Elisa Longo Borghini's special Paris-Roubaix Trek Domane

With two Paris-Roubaix Femmes victories under their belt, it was no surprise that Trek-Segafredo were a firm favourite for the third-ever women’s cobbled classic that was raced last weekend. The team came to the race with a thirst for another win, and the eye-catching Trek Domane was one of the standout bikes of the race.

Unlike the Trek men’s team who raced on the aero-optimised Madone, last year's winner Elisa Longo Borghini and most of the women’s team opted for the Domane. This was because of the IsoSpeed technology, the team said, which absorbs the worst of the cobble shock and arguably, has a race-winning track record.

We’ve taken a closer look at Longo Borghini’s ride for this year. 

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​Paris-Roubaix Femmes was launched in 2021 and both editions since were won aboard the Domane by Trek-Segafredo athletes Lizzie Deignan and Elisa Longo Borghini.

The paint job for this year's Domane is called 'Project ONE Team Black’, combining the colourways of the Trek-Segafredo women's and men's teams, and has cobblestone-like shapes to it, making it stand out from the group. 

Longo Borghini's bike we have here is the Domane SLR (fourth generation) in size 52. It's equipped with a full SRAM groupset with Red eTap AXS shifters and brakes, and SRAM Red Quarq Power Meter cranks. 

You might notice the lack of front derailleur - this seems to be a growing trend for Paris-Roubaix as it eliminates the risk of dropping the chain on the rattly surfaces. Paris-Roubaix is a relatively flat course, so there is no need for granny gears anyway, which is evident from Longo Borghini's setup as well. 

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You can also just about spot the repurposed inner tube ring securing the eTap battery onto the rear derailleur. What are the chances of it popping off? Who knows, but better safe than sorry! 

Moving on to the wheels of the bike, they're Bontrager Aeolus RSL 37v with a relatively shallow depth. The hoops are wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Tubeless tyres in 30mm width for extra plushness. 

At the cockpit, Longo Borghini rides a 38cm wide bar Aero RSL paired with a 120mm long stem (it might seem long, but we did also see a 170mm one at the men's race) with a negative 17-degree tilt. Attached to the bars is a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt cycling computer for viewing all the data. 

In terms of finishing kit, the saddle is Bontrager Aeolus Pro 145 and the pedals are Time XPRO 10. 

How did the race itself go, then? It most certainly wasn’t down to the bike that the cobbled classic didn’t really go to plan for the US team. A mid-race crash saw Elisa Longo Borghini slip on the Pont-Thibault cobbles, which meant the group of favourites she was leading in the chase lost precious time. 

Even though Brand and Longo Borghini made it back to the chase group, which reached the finish line just 12 seconds down, losses were suffered long before the velodrome and those prevented the team from competing to take the third victory home. 

Whether the race would've played out differently for the Trek-Segafredo women without crashes is up for debate. Lucinda Brand got the top spot for the team, crossing the Roubaix Velodrome finish line 12th.  

"Of course, we would have loved to have seen a different result, but if we had come with this group to the finish, I'm not sure that it would've made any difference because me and Elisa had tried a lot already and we are definitely not the fastest from this bunch,” Lucinda Brand said after the race.  

This week we also had a closer look at Mathieu van der Poel's Paris-Roubaix winning bike. As always, remember to check out all our other bike at bedtime features too.