Like two parentheses, one at the beginning and one at the end, the blue girls of the track opened the Europeans in Plovdiv with the gold of Martina Fidanza in scratch and They closed them today with the gold of Elisa Balsamo and Vittoria Guazzini in the madisonIn the middle, Miriam Vece's bronze in the 500 meters, Alzini's silver in the pursuit and the quartet, and Silvia Zanardi's silver again in the points race, Balsamo's gold in the omnium and then Rachele Barbieri's silver in the elimination. A haul worthy of a major track cycling powerhouse, unclear when compared to Great Britain and Russia.
Queen Balm
Elisa Balsamo no longer amazes or, better, she has accustomed us to her making the exceptional simpleIn this year plagued by Covid, the Piedmontese athlete took home the bronze medal in the American hurdles at the World Championships in Berlin and then the European Under-23 Road Championships in Plouay. She did not participate in the European Under-23 Track Championships in Fiorenzuola. for the fall of Ghent-Wevelgem, but she made up for it by winning the final stage of the Challenge by La Vuelta in Madrid and then flying to Bulgaria for the two gold medals on the track.
Sometimes looking back is a useful exercise And thinking of her, it's easy to remember her victory in the Junior World Championships in Doha, surrounded by the same gang of fanatics who still support her around the world today. In seventh heaven on the podium, dazed during the celebratory cocktail party by the sea, with his parents next to him and his world to tell to the first journalists.
«I recognize myself in that girl – says Elisa, along the way to the airport – in the sense that my journey since then has been and continues to be very progressiveEvery year I find myself stronger and more motivated, and I thank my team for this, which is letting me grow. There is no clear cut between that Elisa and how I am today."
My dear English…
The Madison is not a lottery, but it is still a nice puzzle, especially if there are few high-level couples in the competition and therefore you have to throw yourself into every sprint.
“We knew we could compete,” says Elisa, “against those opponents, especially after seeing how the omnium went. We had the strongest couples in front of us at European level since the Madison was introduced and I confirm that if there had been more participants tactics would have played a more important role. But I also confirm that Having beaten the English in the omnium and also in the madison is truly priceless».
Guazzini's masterpiece
Guazzini is also on the same line, European champion in the U23 quartet in Fiorenzuola and part of the little train that took the silver medal in Plovdiv. To tell the truth, Vittoria had started the day feeling a little indisposed which had the Italian entourage trembling. So much so that at a certain point, when she was almost at the reserve, the burden of the laps shifted to Balsamo's shoulders. And when they finally realized that Guazzini would be the one to finish in the sprint, Tuscany rolled up its sleeves and produced yet another masterpiece of the day.
"Fortunately," she smiles, "once I got on the track, things settled down. Yes, I hoped to win, but these are special races, and the objective value of the English girls made the difference. It is not trivial to say that they almost made the world record for the quartet, they were in shape. And when in the end they complimented us, the satisfaction was at its peak. It's nice to have won at the end of a year like this, which actually started in August. But now a few weeks of holidays no one can take it away from us."
Valcar gold mine
The secret is also in the common origin and in the programming that it makes possible. Even though they come from the most disparate corners of Italy, a good portion of the Plovdiv blues wear it every day the shirt of the Valcar-TravelTry reading the following names and tell us if they don't remind you of something. Martina Alzini, Elisa Balsamo, Chiara Consonni, Vittoria Guazzini, and Miriam Vece were all in Bulgaria.
«I received many offers – explains Elisa Balsamo – but I have chosen to stay at Valcar for next year tooThis will allow me to work well for the Olympics on the track. It's a family, we are people and not numbersValentino, our sponsor, always says we're his daughters. We've known each other since 2015, our first year as juniors. They care about us, and you can see it in difficult moments, when they don't put pressure on us."
Tonight there probably would be something to celebrate, but that's also one of the things current events have taken away. The suitcase of memories that boarded the flight to Italy at 20 pm is packed with vibes and glimpses we'll never forget. And when we can finally toast again, it will truly be a great celebration..
