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.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
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
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Frame
Cannondale SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod
Groupset
Shimano Ultegra R8070 Di2
Wheelset
Vision Metron 45 Tubular
Stem
Cannondale HollowGram SAVE SystemBar
Handlebars
Cannondale HollowGram Knot
Power Meter
FSA PowerBox
Pedals
Look Keo Classic Carbon
Saddle
Prologo Dimension NDR
Tyres
Veloflex ProTour 28mm Tubular
Computer
Garmin Edge 830
Bottle Cages
Elite Vico Carbon
Thank you for reading 5 articles in the past 30 days*
As the Tech Editor here at Cyclingnews, Josh leads on content relating to all-things tech, including bikes, kit and components in order to cover product launches and curate our world-class buying guides, reviews and deals. Alongside this, his love for WorldTour racing and eagle eyes mean he's often breaking tech stories from the pro peloton too.
On the bike, 32-year-old Josh has been riding and racing since his early teens. He started out racing cross country when 26-inch wheels and triple chainsets were still mainstream, but he found favour in road racing in his early 20s and has never looked back. He's always training for the next big event and is keen to get his hands on the newest tech to help. He enjoys a good long ride on road or gravel, but he's most alive when he's elbow-to-elbow in a local criterium.
