My name is Elisa Balsamo and I was born on the 27th of february 1998 in Cuneo. I’m a professional cyclist since 2017.
When I was young I’ve achieved some good results, the most important are the four gold medals at the world championships in the junior category: in 2015 I won the scrach (a track speciality), in 2016 I won the omnium and the team pursuit (others two track speciality), in the same year I also won the road world championship.
In 2017 the”jump” in the élite category has been very hard for two main reasons: first because I’ve start to compete against the best cyclist in the world, and than because I had to do the bache lore. It has been very hard, but I’ve also achieved some good results: for example the gold medal at the under 23 european championship in omnium and team pursuit, the partecipation with the national team at the élite road world championship and some good results in the UCI competitions with the Valcar PBM.
During winter season I’ve partecipated at four (out of five) track world cups and, with my mates of the national team, I won the general classification in madiosn and team pursuit.
In 2018 I won the bronze medal at the élite track world championship (team pursuit). This medal is, since now, the most important for me. I’m also satisfied for my road season (even if it’s not ended jet): I’ve achieved some good results and one victory in Holland.
The track world cups of the 2018/2019 season were particularly positive with two bronzes, a silver and a gold with the Italian record in the team pursuit and a bronze in the madison.
In 2019 I got four road wins, one of them at the last stage of the Tour of California, a World Tour race! I was called up by the national team for the second edition of the European Olympic Games that took place in Minsk both for the road and the track, taking home a gold in the team pursuit and a bronze in the omnium. My good road season was rewarded with the call-up to the world championships in Yorkshire.
The 2019/2020 Winter World Cups started in the best way with a bronze medal in the team pursuit in Minsk. My 2020 season on the track was crowned with a sixth place and the Italian record in the team pursuit and a wonderful bronze medal in the madison at the World Championships in Berlin, certainly the most important medal of my cycling life so far, together with the world bronze in 2018.
Thanks to the excellent results we were able to get a pass for the Olympic Games in all three endurance specialties of the track: team pursuit, madison and omnium. Due to the pandemic the Olympic Games in Tokyo were postponed in 2021.
Obviously, the situation created due to COVID-19 made the 2020 season unusual. Anyway, after 3 months of isolation and interactive training, I managed to achieve several important results: on the side of the road, the victory of the road european U23 championship and the victory of the last stage of the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta; on the side of the track, the silver medal at the élite european championships in the team pursuit (ended with the new Italian record of 4.13.632) and the two golds, won in the same event, in the omnium and madison.
The 2021 started in the best way with some good results at the spring’s classics (4th place at Gent-Wevelgem, 6th place at Brugge-De Panne, 15th place at Ronde van Vlaanderen) and a victory in Belgium at GP Oetingen. After this first part of the season I dedicated myself completely to the track to prepare the Olympic Games. In August I took part at all the three endurance competitions: team pursuit, medison and omnium. My experience in Tokyo has not been very lucky because of two crashes. Anyway I’m satisfied about our 6th place in the team pursuit in which we also made the new italian record (4’10″063). The cherry on the cake came with the ROAD WORLD CHAMPION TITLE September the 25th in Leuven!! After just two weeks, I won my first race with the rainbow jersey at the last stage of the Women’s Tour in England. The season ended with two medals ta the track world championships: the silver medal in the team pursuit and the drone one in the omnium.
I didn’t decide to stop with my studies, in fact I’m enrolled at the Turin’s university.
I’ve two more passion beyond cycling: reading and music (in particular the piano, that I played for ten years).