Brand There are teams with riders built for races like Paris-Roubaix.

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Brand There are teams with riders built for races like Paris-Roubaix.

Trek-Segafredo put together its strongest team in Paris-Roubaix Fam on Saturday, winning again in the second edition of the event.

After Lizzie Deignan's victory in wet conditions last October, this time it was Elisa Longo Borghini who soloed to victory and hoisted the famous cobbled trophy onto the Roubaix velodrome.

Her team included world champion Elisa Balsamo, as well as Ellen van Dijk and Lucinda Brand. It was this team strength that also helped her to win against top-notch competitors such as Lotte Kopecky (SD Works), Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope), and Elise Chaby (Canyon-SRAM Racing).

Brand finished on the podium in third place from the chase group behind Longo Borghini, while Van Dijk finished seventh, placing three Trek-Segafredo racers in the top 10.

"We basically always kept all the guys in front," Brand explained after the race.

"No pressure, no fighting on the cobblestones. No pressure, no fighting on the cobblestones. [It was] perfect because we had good riders behind us. We have riders on our team that look like they are built for this kind of race.

Early in the race, Van Dijk led the peloton and increased her pace in the first cobblestone sector of the day, splitting the peloton.

She was forced into a long chase, but eventually played spoiler in the chase group with Brand, helping Longo Borghini.

"Halfway through the third sector, it took me super, super long to get back," van Dijk said of the puncture. 'I was always a hard worker. I had to go back anyway."

"You never know. You want to, but it's not that easy. In the end, I think we had a super good team with a lot of strong girls and we got the best card in the final."

Whatever Trek-Segafredo's original plan was, they were sure to use Balsamo in some capacity. However, Balsamo, who was chasing up from a puncture with over 30 km to go, was disqualified for sticky bottles.

"In the confusion during the race, Van Dijk said of Balsamo's disqualification. 'I don't know. My radio was a bit chaotic. I couldn't understand what had happened to Balsamo. I just knew she wouldn't be coming back and that I would have to play a different card."

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The team's final card was Longo Borghini's, and she counter-attacked with 32km to go and got away. And 23 seconds after she crossed the finish line, it was Brando who doubled Trek-Segafredo's joy.

"All week I was thinking about going into the velodrome and getting goosebumps thinking how cool it would be," Brand said at the post-race press conference.

"I was just thinking about how cool it would be," Brand said at the post-race press conference.

"I was just trying to figure out the best way to sprint. It was super hard to beat Kopecký even though she was tired. Ellen helped me a lot, but I think third place was the best I could do today."

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