She did so aboard this, a Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod, which comes courtesy of her Valcar Travel & Service team, the second-division continental team based out of Balsamo's home country.
Today's win could be her last aboard the brand ahead of a move to the Trek bikes of Trek-Segafredo in 2022. Of course, Balsamo will hope next week's Paris-Roubaix Femmes will yield yet more success, but today's victory could be the fairytale ending to her tenure with Cannondale.
From afar, the bike appears to be rather prosaic, but upon closer inspection, there are a few standout inclusions that highlight Balsamo's personality. Most notably the cartoon self-portrait on the top tube, and the stuffed-toy-themed top cap. No doubt there's a story here but unfortunately for curious readers, Balsamo was unavailable to field our quirky bike spec questions - no doubt preoccupied with more serious lines of questioning in the wake of one of the biggest victories in her life.
From a tech perspective, the bike appears to be sponsor-appeasing throughout. Vision Metron tubular wheels provided the rolling stock, which were wrapped in 28mm Veloflex ProTour tubular tyres.
Translating Balsamo's power to those wheels was Shimano's Ultegra Di2 groupset, paired with an FSA PowerBox power meter chainset fitted with 52/36 chainrings. and slowing them down again were disc brakes from the same groupset. Notably, this was the R8000 series groupset rather than the recently-launched R8100 range, although the latest editions of Ultegra and Dura-Ace are still a rare sight in both the women's and men's WorldTour.
Upfront, Balsamo's bike was fitted with Cannondale's Hollowgram integrated cockpit, with the drops wrapped in Prologo OneTouch tape. Between the bars came a Garmin Edge 830, still coated in the dust from the race's dry Belgian roads.
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To complete the build, Balsamo's bike was fitted with a Prologo Dimension NDR saddle and Vico Carbon bottle cages from Elite.
Tech Specs: Elisa Balsamo's Cannondale SuperSix Evo
Josh is Associate Editor of Cyclingnews – leading our content on the best bikes, kit and the latest breaking tech stories from the pro peloton. He has been with us since the summer of 2019 and throughout that time he's covered everything from buyer's guides and deals to the latest tech news and reviews.
On the bike, Josh has been riding and racing for over 15 years. He started out racing cross country in his teens back when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s, racing at a local and national level for Somerset-based Team Tor 2000. These days he rides indoors for convenience and fitness, and outdoors for fun on road, gravel, 'cross and cross-country bikes, the latter usually with his two dogs in tow.
