Elisa Balsamo re-ups with Trek-Segafredo

Elisa Balsamo will remain in a Trek-Segafredo jersey through 2026.

Negotiations began last year, and the Italian star was happy to put pen to paper to stay with the U.S.-registered team.

“2022 was an unforgettable year, but there is a story that is yet to be written,” Balsamo said. “I have many goals in my head and with the team we share the same ambition. Luca and Ina, jokingly, threw me the challenge of becoming a collector of classics… needless to say, challenge accepted.”

In between racing, the former world champion found time to finish her studies and will graduate at the University of Turin with a degree in Modern Literature in early April.

“It would be reductive to think that we proposed the extension only because of her results,” said Luca Guercilena, Trek-Segafredo general manager. “Elisa brought a lot more to the team. Enthusiasm, charisma, determination, team spirit; always with a proactive approach. These are the qualities that made her an all-round leader in such a short time.

“When we signed the first contract, before her victory at the world championships in Leuven, she was a well-known promising talent. One year later, we are now talking about one of the strongest riders on the scene. And the best, in our opinion, is yet to come.”

Ina-Yoko Teutenberg, director of the Trek-Segafredo women’s team, said Balsamo is a key member of the squad.

“In 2021 we were excited to have signed her, but after having seen her in action, how she works in training and how she applies herself in the race, her relationship with teammates and within the peloton, her performance has gone far beyond the best expectations,” she said “She honored the world champion’s jersey as only a few were able to. She handled the pressure and expectations with impressive results.

“She is a special rider, one that a team director would always want to work with. I’m really excited when I think about what’s coming.”

Balsamo’s 2023 season will begin in a few days at the Setmana Valenciana, the same race in which she made a winning debut in 2022.

This will be followed by her first taste of the north at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, then Strade Bianche and Trofeo Alfredo Binda with number 1 on her back.

The hunt for the classics will continue with Gent-Wevelgem (as defending champion), Tour of Flanders, and Amstel Gold Race.

In the larger stage races, Elisa will be competing at the Women’s Tour and Tour de France Femmes where, in her words, “there is a score to settle.”