Yesterday too at the Simac Ladies Tour Elisa Balsam She snatched a podium, actually two. One overall and one in the stage. She finished second and third, respectively. This latest good placing, but still no victory, leads us to analyze his season. A season that cannot be broken down without keeping in mind a crucial point: the accident that occurred last season, the terrible fall that even put the Olympics in doubt. The rapid return, the Giro Women's cycling and then Paris... But from there on, it wasn't easy. Today, it's proven that a top athlete takes more than a full, smooth season to get back to their level.
Another aspect that can be misleading: Balsamo's career has always been compared to that of Lorraine WiebesAnd the fact that the Dutchman is in a state of grace could lead to a distorted judgment. For this reason, to get the real picture of the situation, we spoke about it with the head coach of the Lidl Trek, Josu Larrazabal.
And so, Josu, let's start by giving a general overview of Elisa Balsamo...
Ultimately, Elisa's growth is constant and I would even say more solid. He's also stronger on climbs. As you've already mentioned, we mustn't forget last season's accident, which then led to some setbacks over the months. No, no… For me, Elisa's season is solid.
And yesterday he concluded the Simac Ladies Tour in second place…
Let's take the Simac Ladies Tour: looking at the standings and the finishing orders of the stages, almost all won by Wiebes, it might seem like it was a race for sprinters only, but that wasn't the case at all. Yes, some stages were fast, but there were also some steep climbs, short climbs, fans, and time trials. I can tell you that Elisa didn't miss a single fan. She has always been in the thick of the action.
If we want to play the devil, though, victory has been missing for a while. And we're used to seeing it win more frequently...
The season started well. Balsamo immediately won a couple of stages and performed very well in the classics season. He won the Trofeo Binda, which is not an easy race at all. She came seventh in the Milan-Sanremo, he made the podium in De Panne, Ghent-Wevelgem and won the Scheldeprijs. Of course, it's not at the level of victories of 2022, but that was a record-breaking season. In the middle of it, there was a major accident, she crashed again at Tour de France Women's cycling and at the same time, Wiebes's performance has improved significantly. And that's not all.
What are you referring to?
We've also had some major changes in the team, which shouldn't be overlooked when you have to beat Wiebes and her formidable team. I'm referring to the fact that we have a new train, which still needs to be fine-tuned. It's also up to us to provide it with the right support. We're not at our best yet in this regard, but we're working on it. If a sprinter doesn't win a sprint, it always seems like something's missing, while we coaches evaluate everything from other perspectives as well. We know she can still improve. I don't know about Wiebes, otherwise she'll win the Tour Femmes!
You mentioned earlier that Balsamo is stronger on the climbs, too. Is there a physical transformation going on, partly due to the fact that he hasn't been on the track this year?
Since you change your approach because you don't do track, it's clear that something changes. If we're talking about physical transformation in the sense of being lighter, I'd say no: the weight is more or less the same. But with the coach and husband Davide Plebani We're doing a great job. The problem is that Wiebes is also stronger on the climbs, and we saw that in the way she overcame the Poggio and the steep climbs of many other classics.
Of course, it's reductive to talk "only" about sprinters anymore...
At certain moments it becomes a one-on-one battle, you have to stay in the wind, but I see that Elisa is ready for this. Winning the Binda three times, which is a tough race, is not something for simple sprinters. The same goes for finishing second in the Paris-Roubaix Women's cycling. This is why I am convinced that the day will come when he will win Sanremo. I say this because we're going in that direction. Then again, if we're talking about victories, I'd add that in certain sprints you can't do everything alone: team support is vital.
Is Balsamo expected to return to the track soon, at the end of the year?
We haven't talked about it. Plans are being made in December, including with the federation. For this year, I can say he won't compete. Then he'll definitely return in the coming years, which is also a pleasure for us. We're used to working on mixed programs with other athletes, too. They're important projects, but there are certain breaks that need to be respected. Also because it's not just about doing this or that race, but about planning everything: preparation phases, road and track races, training camps, altitude, recovery phases.
So what will Elisa Balsamo's schedule be between now and the end of the season?
He will run until the last races WorldTour in China. First he will do Stuttgart, GP Wallonie, Three Valleys and is on the list for the Giro dell'Emilia even if in any case it would not be at the start to aim, but as an approach to the Tour of Chongming Island which is a stage race always in China before the Tour of GuangxiDoing a lot of races, especially the WorldTour, is important for us this year, not just for the team ranking, where we're fourth.
And for what else?
Because as mentioned, we are in a transition phase. For the train, we need to work on certain automatic mechanisms. Emma Norsgaard, Clara Copponi, and then Balsamo. But overall, last year we had two athletes like Gaia Realini, who had to recover this year, and a certain Elisa Longo Borghini, who did a certain job in certain races. They're not two ordinary athletes. And to give you an idea of how much Elisa has improved: in Durango, a very tough race, she helped the team a lot. We would have had a race like that in 2024 with Longo and Realini more easily.
Clear…
Elisa was the key to the victory, even though, looking at the finish line, she wasn't in the lead. A true team player. She broke away, came back, pushed... That's why I say she's solid. In the end, the victories were the same as last year, but with many more second-place finishes. If only three of those second-place finishes were victories, everything would have changed.
