Longo Borghini (30) took over from her Trek teammate, Briton Lizzie Deignan, who is taking a maternity break this year.
Under the sun contrasting with the rain and mud of last autumn, the Italian confirmed the superiority of her team represented by two elements (Brand, van Dijk) in the pursuit group.
Third last year on the Roubaix velodrome, Longo Borghini did not approach this second edition with full confidence.
"I was thinking more about another girl on the team on the podium," she said.
She also had a few words for her teammate and compatriot world champion, Elisa Balsamo, disqualified by the jury about forty kilometers from the finish for irregular return to the peloton (glued bottle and extended shelter behind car).
"It's a shame. In the race, sometimes we lack lucidity but that's the rules", admitted the Italian champion who went on the attack shortly after this sanction, at the exit of the cobblestones of Templeuve (North), some 33 kilometers from the finish.
Italian Elisa Longo Borghini flies to victory on a cobbled section, during the 2nd edition of Paris-Roubaix Women, April 16, 2022 Jeff PACHOUD AFP
Bronze medalist twice at the Olympic Games (Rio then Tokyo), the Italian appreciated her victory, the first of her season, all the more as she has gone through difficult times in recent weeks.
The joy of the Italian Elisa Longo Borghini, after winning the 2nd edition of Paris-Roubaix Women alone, on April 16, 2022 Jeff PACHOUD AFP
"I was still on antibiotics not long ago", explained Longo Borghini, who had chosen to ignore the last races (Amstel Gold Race Ladies, Flèche brabançonne) to best prepare for this Paris-Roubaix Women.
Of the three competitors appearing on the podium last year, Longo Borghini was the only one to compete in this second edition and its 29.2 kilometers of cobbled sections.
A few hours before the departure from Denain (North), the runner-up from Deignan, the Dutch Marianne Vos, had to forfeit, death in the soul, because of positive results for Covid-19 detection tests.
© 2022 AFP