Some individuals within the fanbase {of professional} biking consider within the curse of the rainbow jersey, whereby the newly topped world champion finds it out of the blue troublesome to rack up wins as soon as they’re sporting the coveted rainbow stripes. Clearly, Elisa Balsamo does not purchase into that, having racked up 9 wins within the stripes in 2022, together with Ghent-Wevelgem, stage wins on the Giro d’Italia Donne, and capped it off by additionally profitable the Italian nationwide championships. Sadly this meant we by no means noticed the Italian champion’s jersey on the street because the rainbow jersey takes priority.
Whereas Balsamo has relinquished the rainbow jersey for 2023 to Annemiek van Vleuten she remains to be very a lot a rider to observe for the season, and can nonetheless carry the rainbow collar and sleeve flashes of a former world champion till the top of her profession.
Whereas touring World Groups at their winter coaching camps in Alicante we had been fortunate sufficient to borrow Balsamo’s bike, the new Trek Madone, for a poolside photoshoot.
What’s Elisa Balsamo’s bike?
The Trek Madone SLR is probably the most aerodynamic, and due to this fact technically the quickest bike the American producer and headline sponsor of Trek-Segafredo makes. It was up to date in 2022 to the newest mannequin that includes a reasonably radical redesign, and whereas we noticed Balsamo using an Emonda, the model’s light-weight bike, final yr, it is no nice shock to see her swapping to the brand new mannequin. Riders usually get to decide on between fashions if the producer makes a couple of top-end race mannequin, so it might be that we see her on an Emonda on significantly hilly races.
Whereas there was no dimension label on the body, and we weren’t permitted to whip out a tape measure, at 5ft 5in tall we count on this to be a dimension 52 body. The wheels are offered by Bontrager, the Aeolus RSL 51 wheelset, a sufficiently deep aero set to go with the frameset aerodynamics. Bontrager is an in-house subsidiary of Trek, so can successfully be thought-about a part of the identical bundle, very similar to seeing Roval wheels on groups sponsored by Specialised.
The drivetrain is taken care of by one other American firm, SRAM, within the type of its top-end absolutely wi-fi Crimson eTAP AXS groupset.
| Body | Trek Madone SLR – 52cm |
| Groupset | SRAM Crimson Etap AXS |
| Brakes | SRAM Crimson Hydraulic |
| Wheelset | Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51 |
| Tyres | Pirelli P Zero Race TLR – 28mm |
| Cockpit | Bontrager Aeolus RSL |
| Chainset | SRAM Crimson 12sp 52/39 |
| Energy meter | Quarq AXS spider |
| Pedals | Time XPRO 10 |
| Saddle | Bontrager Aeolus RSL |
| Bottle cages | Bontrager XXX Carbon |
| Bottles | Elite Fly |
| Bar tape | Bontrager gel cork |
| Laptop | Wahoo Elemnt Bolt |
The brand new body is the principle speaking level for Balsamo this season, having beforehand raced on the Emonda, the top-end Trek light-weight bike. The brand new Madone SLR options an aero-optimised entrance finish, as you’d count on, however many of the intrigue comes on the rear. Sure, there is a big gap in it; Isoflow, in Trek parlance. This supposedly smooths the airflow between the rider’s legs and permits it to gracefully exit into the low-pressure zone behind.
It additionally has the secondary impact of making a particular, cantilevered seatpost, suspended out over the rear wheel, so there is no probability of utilizing an aftermarket put up right here; Madone-spec solely.
In an attention-grabbing deviation from the manufacturing unit spec, Balsamo opts to not use the brand new Madone cockpit, a one-piece unit that has a slight flare to the decrease portion of the bars and a narrower higher, in addition to integrating kind of seamlessly into the traces of the body, in favour of her older Emonda built-in cockpit. No flare, however for some execs familiarity is extra vital that the potential wattage saving.
Deep wheels on a light-weight bike look cool, however light-weight shallow wheels on an aero bike appears just like the bike skipped leg day on the fitness center. Balsamo opts for the Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51, a 51mm deep wheel designed to cheat the wind, and arrange tubeless with Pirelli’s P Zero Race tyres and, so I am instructed, Pirelli sealant. Sealant is sort of unattainable to verify, so we’ll take the phrase of the mechanics on this one.
The tyres are 28mm in width. Professional’s appear to now be hovering between 25 and 28, with some radical outcasts even going as excessive as 30 even in non-cobbled races. 28mm shouldn’t be unusual and can give her a bit extra grip and luxury for maybe a modicum of a rise in rolling resistance. The body can simply accommodate tyres over 30mm, so in races like Paris-Roubaix count on to see her go wider.
The drivetrain is taken care of totally by SRAM’s top-tier Crimson eTAP AXS. It is totally wi-fi, with every derailleur housing an impartial common battery that might be swapped round in an emergency. The brakes are hydraulic, and the chromed callipers are arguably the best-looking available on the market. By way of gearing, Balsamo opts for a 52/39t chainset, full with a Quarq energy meter nestled between the crank arms and the chainrings, and a 10-33t cassette.
The Aeolus RSL saddle and plain black cork bar tape are commonplace staff situation. Although Balsamo does have her saddle additional again on her seatpost than many professional riders, maybe indicating she’s opted to go for the right dimension reasonably than sizing down and slamming the saddle ahead to accommodate. The attention-grabbing speaking level comes on the pedals, with each males’s and girls’s Trek-Segafredo squads switching to Time pedals.
You do not see Time pedals usually within the professional peloton, with most groups both being Look or Shimano sponsored. The XPRO 10 carbon fashions we are able to see listed here are actually a distinctive-looking element. We should wait and see how the staff adapts over the season.
Lastly, upfront, a Ok-Edge mount holds a model new (with a sticker on it till I peeled it off as a result of it regarded unusual) Wahoo Elemnt Bolt biking pc. Thirsty for some footage? Keep in mind to take a drink from the Elite Fly bottles held neatly in Bontrager XXX carbon cages. It is unusual, maybe, that the lads’s staff get colour-matched bottles, whereas the ladies’s staff has to make use of the identical crimson ones.
Elisa Balsamo’s World Champions bike
This season Balsamo seems to be choosing the extra aero Madone. Final season nevertheless she was on the light-weight Emonda, and never simply any Emonda both. It was a white, world champions version Emonda with the occasional nod to #UnicornPower.
The setup in comparison with her 2023 Madone is analogous in some ways; the identical handlebars, wheels and groupset. The swap within the pedal division is sponsor-led, however the determination to swap saddles shouldn’t be one thing we see many execs doing. Right here she’s utilizing a Bontrager Verse Professional, reasonably than the Aeolus RSL mannequin.
The primary speaking level although for any world champion is the paint job. Right here it isn’t too brash, nevertheless it’s no shrinking violet both. Giant rainbow stripes dominate the fork legs, and a heavy silver flake is integrated into the white paint to make it pop within the sunshine. A visible reference to #UnicornPower, to go with the “Avanti Spingere” (push forwards) motif slightly below the stem.
Elisa Balsamo’s world championship profitable bike
To be able to get a rainbow bike it’s important to experience one thing else to victory on the world championships, and a few victory it was, outsprinting Marianne Vos of all individuals to take the rainbow jersey in Leuven. In Balsamo’s case, she was using for a unique staff on the world championships, the Valcar Journey & Service Staff, in comparison with the place she’s employed presently, and so was on completely completely different gear to what we see her using as we speak.
Her brilliant yellow Cannondale SuperSix Evo HiMod was decked out with Vison Metron 45 tubular wheels, with Veloflex ProTour 28mm tubulars glued onto them. A Garmin Edge 830 is main the way in which as a substitute of a Wahoo, Look Kep Basic pedals rather than Time, and a Shimano drivetrain mated to an FSA crankset and energy meter handle the ability switch.
Maybe most curiously of all although was a high cap above her stem with an image of a stuffed toy canine. We do not know whose canine it’s, what it means, or how a lot it contributed to her victory, nevertheless it’s all the time beautiful to see human touches on professional’s bikes; they’re human, in spite of everything, not the machines we so usually view them as.
