Elisa Balsamo

Elisa Balsamo (born 27 February 1998) is an Italian road and track cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's World Team , and represents Italy at international competitions.

After competing at the 2015 UCI Road World Championships in the women's junior road race she became junior world champion at the 2016 UCI Road World Championships in the junior's road race. She won the gold medal at the 2016 UEC European Track Championships in the team pursuit.

Early life Balsamo was born in Cuneo in 1998. Her father was an amateur cyclist. Before taking up cycling, she had competed in a number of skiing disciplines, as well as biathlon and swimming.

Career Balsamo's first major win came at the 2016 UCI Road World Championships in Doha, where she won the Junior Road Race in a bunch sprint ahead of Skylar Schneider. She signed for for the 2017 season. Her first professional win came at the Omloop van Borsele in April 2018, followed by a win at the GP Bruno Beghelli later in the year.

In 2019, Balsamo finished first in a bunch sprint at the Dwars door de Westhoek, as well as stages at the Tour of California and the Giro delle Marche in Rosa. In 2020, Balsamo won the final stage of the Madrid Challenge, overtaking Lorena Wiebes in the final 50 metres.

Balsamo began the 2021 season with a win at the GP Oetingen. She competed for Italy at the 2020 Summer Olympics; whilst she broke the Italian record as part of the team pursuit, she finished in 8th position in the madison and outside the Top 10 in the omnium. After a period of stage racing in Spain and The Netherlands, during which she finished second in the Grand Prix d'Isbergues, Her first win as World Champion came at The Women's Tour, in which she won the final stage.

In 2026, Balsamo finished stage 1 of the Giro d'Italia Women second and was awarded first place after Lorena Wiebes was disqualified. Balsamo went on to finish first in stages 2 and 3 of the Giro, keeping the leaders jersey. She lost the general classification lead to Anna van der Breggen in stage 4, the mountain time trial, but continued to do well, winning the 6th stage of the Giro.

Major results Road

2015 3rd Road race, National Junior Championships 5th Trofeo Avis Suvereto 6th Road race, UCI World Junior Championships 6th Giro della Provincia di Pordenone 2016 1st Road race, UCI World Junior Championships 1st Road race, National Junior Championships

2nd Gent–Wevelgem Juniors 3rd Trofeo Mendelspeck 4th Gran Premio Hotel Fiera Bolzano 7th Trofeo Oro 8th Memorial Diego e Stefano Trovó 2017 1st Giro Dei Due Comuni 1st Grand Prix Crevoisier 1st Sprints classification, Giro della Toscana 2nd Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 2nd Sparkassen Giro 2nd Memorial F. Basso 7th SwissEver GP Cham-Hagendorn 2018 (2 pro wins) 1st Omloop van Borsele 1st Gran Premio Bruno Beghelli 2nd Grand Prix de Dottignies 5th Time trial, UEC European Under-23 Championships 2019 (4) 1st Trofee Maarten Wynants 1st Dwars door de Westhoek 1st Stage 3 Tour of California 1st Stage 2 Giro delle Marche in Rosa 2nd Omloop van Borsele 2020 (1) 1st Road race, UEC European Under-23 Championships 1st Stage 3 Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta 2021 (3) 1st Road race, UCI World Championships 1st Stage 6 The Women's Tour 3rd Scheldeprijs 3rd Brabantse Pijl 4th Gent–Wevelgem 7th Trofeo Alfredo Binda 7th Dwars door de Westhoek 10th Road race, UEC European Championships 2022 (9) 1st Road race, National Championships 1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda 1st Classic Brugge–De Panne 1st Gent–Wevelgem Giro Donne 1st Stages 1 & 4 Challenge by La Vuelta 1st Stages 1 (TTT) & 5 1st Stage 1 Setmana Ciclista Valenciana 1st Stage 3 Tour de Suisse

2nd Ronde van Drenthe 4th Tre Valli Varesine 8th Amstel Gold Race 2023 (3) Setmana Ciclista Valenciana 1st Stages 1 & 2 1st Stage 1 Simac Ladies Tour 2nd Trofeo Alfredo Binda 2nd Classic Brugge–De Panne 4th Ronde van Drenthe 4th Nokere Koerse 2024 (5) 1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda 1st Classic Brugge–De Panne Volta a Catalunya 1st Stages 1 & 3 Tour de Romandie 1st Points classification 1st Stage 1

2nd Paris–Roubaix 2nd Ronde van Drenthe 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 4th Classic Lorient Agglomération 7th Scheldeprijs 10th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2025 (5) 1st Trofeo Alfredo Binda 1st Scheldeprijs 1st Stage 3 Tour de Suisse 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 2nd Copenhagen Sprint 3rd Classic Brugge–De Panne 3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen 4th Overall Setmana Ciclista Valenciana 1st Points classification 1st Stages 3 & 4 7th Milan–San Remo 9th Paris–Roubaix 2026 (6) Giro d'Italia 1st Points classification 1st Stages 1, 2, 3 & 6 1st Classic Lorient Agglomération 1st Egmont Cycling Race 2nd Tour of Bruges 2nd Overall Tour de Pologne Women 3rd Scheldeprijs 6th Copenhagen Sprint 8th Milan–San Remo

Classics results timeline

Track

2015 1st Scratch, UCI World Junior Championships

1st Team pursuit, National Junior Championships 2016 1st Team pursuit, UEC European Championships UCI World Junior Championships 1st Omnium 1st Team pursuit UEC European Junior Championships 1st Omnium 1st Team pursuit 1st Scratch, National Junior Championships 1st Individual pursuit, 3 Jours d'Aigle 2nd Team pursuit, UCI World Cup, Glasgow 2017 UEC European Championships 1st Team pursuit

UEC European Under-23 Championships 1st Omnium 1st Team pursuit

UCI World Cup, Pruszków 1st Team pursuit 3rd Individual pursuit 3rd Madison (with Maria Giulia Confalonieri) 6 Giorni di Torino internazionale 1st Omnium 1st Points Belgian International Meeting 2nd Omnium 3rd Madison (with Rachele Barbieri) 2nd Omnium, Prilba Moravy 2018 UEC European Under-23 Championships 1st Team pursuit

1st Madison, National Championships

2022 1st Team pursuit, UCI World Championships