Elisa Balsamo’s moment of extraordinary form continues and confirms that she is the rising star of world cycling. In fact, after last week’s victory at the Vuelta, the twenty-two-year-old driver from Valcar – Travel & Service is also exalted on the track, winning the gold medal with the national jersey at the Plovdiv European Championships in Bulgaria with extreme ease.
After her Scratch and Elimination tests (she finished sixth in the Tempo Race), Elisa showed an embarrassing superiority even in the final round of the Points Race, winning 5 out of 8 sprints and winning the general classification when there were 10 laps left at the end of the test. An absolute domination that makes Elisa dream in terms of the Olympics.
For her, this is the first international medal won in an individual discipline in the elite category: a real icing on the cake in a season that saw her excel also in the under 23 category when she won the European road title in Plouay.
But this is not the only great news for the Valcar – Travel & Service girls who yesterday entered the history of Italian cycling thanks to the capital test of Martina Alzini, Elisa Balsamo, Chiara Consonni and Vittoria Guazzini who with a time of 4: 13.632 set the new Italian record in the team pursuit. A time that earned the four Valcar – Travel & Service athletes a beautiful silver medal behind Great Britain.
But that’s not all, because another Italian record was recorded today thanks to the capital performance of Martina Alzini who in the individual pursuit makes the clock stop at a time of 3: 26.836. A time that allowed the Milanese to conquer the final where she won a prestigious silver medal behind the British Neah Evans.