We bring you all the details on her 2023 Trek Madone
(Image credit: Will Jones)
Some people in the fanbase of professional cycling believe in the curse of the rainbow jersey, whereby the newly crowned world champion finds it suddenly difficult to rack up wins once they are wearing the coveted rainbow stripes. Clearly, Elisa Balsamo doesn't buy into that, having racked up nine wins in the stripes in 2022, including Ghent-Wevelgem, stage wins at the Giro d'Italia Donne, and capped it off by also winning the Italian national championships. Sadly this meant we never saw the Italian champion's jersey on the road as the rainbow jersey takes precedence.
While Balsamo has relinquished the rainbow jersey for 2023 to Annemiek van Vleuten she is still very much a rider to watch for the season, and will still carry the rainbow collar and sleeve flashes of a former world champion until the end of her career.
While touring World Teams at their winter training camps in Alicante we were lucky enough to borrow Balsamo's bike, the new Trek Madone, for a poolside photoshoot.
What is Elisa Balsamo's bike?
The Trek Madone SLR is the most aerodynamic, and therefore technically the fastest bike the American manufacturer and headline sponsor of Trek-Segafredo makes. It was updated in 2022 to the latest model featuring a pretty radical redesign, and while we saw Balsamo riding an Emonda, the brand's lightweight bike, last year, it's no great shock to see her swapping to the new model. Riders typically get to choose between models if the manufacturer makes more than one top-end race model, so it may well be that we see her on an Emonda on particularly hilly races.
While there was no size label on the frame, and we were not permitted to whip out a tape measure, at 5ft 5in tall we expect this to be a size 52 frame. The wheels are provided by Bontrager, the Aeolus RSL 51 wheelset, a sufficiently deep aero set to compliment the frameset aerodynamics. Bontrager is an in-house subsidiary of Trek, so can effectively be considered part of the same package, much like seeing Roval wheels on teams sponsored by Specialized.
The drivetrain is taken care of by another American company, SRAM, in the form of its top-end fully wireless Red eTAP AXS groupset.
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Elisa Balsamo's Trek Madone SLR: Specifications
Frame
Trek Madone SLR - 52cm
Groupset
SRAM Red Etap AXS
Brakes
SRAM Red Hydraulic
Wheelset
Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51
Tyres
Pirelli P Zero Race TLR - 28mm
Cockpit
Bontrager Aeolus RSL
Chainset
SRAM Red 12sp 52/39
Power meter
Quarq AXS spider
Pedals
Time XPRO 10
Saddle
Bontrager Aeolus RSL
Bottle cages
Bontrager XXX Carbon
Bottles
Elite Fly
Bar tape
Bontrager gel cork
Computer
Wahoo Elemnt Bolt
The new frame is the main talking point for Balsamo this season, having previously raced on the Emonda, the top-end Trek lightweight bike. The new Madone SLR features an aero-optimised front end, as you'd expect, but most of the intrigue comes at the rear. Yes, there's a giant hole in it; Isoflow, in Trek parlance. This supposedly smooths the airflow between the rider's legs and allows it to gracefully exit into the low-pressure zone behind.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
It also has the secondary effect of creating a distinctive, cantilevered seatpost, suspended out over the rear wheel, so there's no chance of using an aftermarket post here; Madone-spec only.
In an interesting deviation from the factory spec, Balsamo opts to not use the new Madone cockpit, a one-piece unit that has a slight flare to the lower portion of the bars and a narrower upper, as well as integrating more or less seamlessly into the lines of the frame, in favour of her older Emonda integrated cockpit. No flare, but for some pros familiarity is more important that the potential wattage saving.
Deep wheels on a lightweight bike look cool, but lightweight shallow wheels on an aero bike looks like the bike skipped leg day at the gym. Balsamo opts for the Bontrager Aeolus RSL 51, a 51mm deep wheel designed to cheat the wind, and set up tubeless with Pirelli's P Zero Race tyres and, so I'm told, Pirelli sealant. Sealant is nearly impossible to check, so we will take the word of the mechanics on this one.
The tyres are 28mm in width. Pro's seem to now be hovering between 25 and 28, with some radical outcasts even going as high as 30 even in non-cobbled races. 28mm is not uncommon and will give her a little more grip and comfort for perhaps a modicum of an increase in rolling resistance. The frame can easily accommodate tyres over 30mm, so in races like Paris-Roubaix expect to see her go wider.
The drivetrain is taken care of entirely by SRAM's top-tier Red eTAP AXS. It's entirely wireless, with each derailleur housing an independent universal battery that could be swapped around in an emergency. The brakes are hydraulic, and the chromed callipers are arguably the best-looking on the market. In terms of gearing, Balsamo opts for a 52/39t chainset, complete with a Quarq power meter nestled between the crank arms and the chainrings, and a 10-33t cassette.
The Aeolus RSL saddle and plain black cork bar tape are standard team issue. Though Balsamo does have her saddle further back on her seatpost than many pro riders, perhaps indicating she's opted to go for the correct size rather than sizing down and slamming the saddle forward to accommodate. The interesting talking point comes at the pedals, with both men's and women's Trek-Segafredo squads switching to Time pedals.
You don't see Time pedals often in the pro peloton, with most teams either being Look or Shimano sponsored. The XPRO 10 carbon models we can see here are certainly a distinctive-looking component. We will have to wait and see how the team adapts over the season.
Finally, upfront, a K-Edge mount holds a brand new (with a sticker on it until I peeled it off because it looked strange) Wahoo Elemnt Bolt cycling computer. Thirsty for some pictures? Remember to take a drink from the Elite Fly bottles held neatly in Bontrager XXX carbon cages. It's strange, perhaps, that the men's team get colour-matched bottles, while the women's team has to use the same red ones.
I maintain that SRAM's Red brake callipers are the best looking in the pro peloton (Image credit: Will Jones)
The hole at the rear of the frame is there to guide the turbulent air out into the low pressure zone behind the rider. The "1" shows this is Balsamo's main bike, likely 1 of 3 (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Pirelli sponsorship logos and that blue put us in mind of the '70's Plymouth Superbird NASCAR racecar (Image credit: Will Jones)
A 52/39 chainset is relatively standard, particularly with the wide range of the rear cassette (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Quarq power meter at the chainring end of the cranks takes care of wattage measurements, and the angular Time pedals keep the rider connected to the bike (Image credit: Will Jones)
Each SRAM Red derailleur has it's own separate battery (Image credit: Will Jones)
Wahoo Elemnt Bolt, the computer of choice for the Trek-Segafredo team, attaches via a low profile K-Edge mount (Image credit: Will Jones)
While Balsamo chooses 28mm tyres, there is scope to fit wider if she wishes (Image credit: Will Jones)
The cantilevered seatpost is also claimed to add a degree of additional compliance to the rider too (Image credit: Will Jones)
SRAM's flat-top chains are distinctive and easy to spot in the peloton (Image credit: Will Jones)
Balsamo opts not to use the stick Madone cockpit, instead using that from her Emonda last year, the Aeolus RSL cockpit (Image credit: Will Jones)
The Aeolus RSL saddle features carbon rails and a full length relief channel (Image credit: Will Jones)
51mm deep Aeolus rims are deep enough to be aerodynamically efficient, without being unwieldy in high winds (Image credit: Will Jones)
Elisa Balsamo's World Champions bike
This season Balsamo appears to be opting for the more aero Madone. Last season however she was on the lightweight Emonda, and not just any Emonda either. It was a white, world champions edition Emonda with the occasional nod to #UnicornPower.
The setup compared to her 2023 Madone is similar in many ways; the same handlebars, wheels and groupset. The swap in the pedal department is sponsor-led, but the decision to swap saddles is not something we see many pros doing. Here she's using a Bontrager Verse Pro, rather than the Aeolus RSL model.
The main talking point though for any world champion is the paint job. Here it's not too brash, but it's no shrinking violet either. Large rainbow stripes dominate the fork legs, and a heavy silver flake is incorporated into the white paint to make it pop in the sunshine. A visual reference to #UnicornPower, to compliment the "Avanti Spingere" (push forwards) motif just below the stem.
This Emonda would have stood out in a crowd more than Balsamo's current Madone (Image credit: Trek Segafredo)
Unicorns, and world champions, are both powered by rainbows; that's just science (Image credit: Trek Segafredo)
"PUSH FORWARDS" is a key reminder when sticking to a training plan stuck to your top tube (Image credit: Trek Segafredo)
Only one rider a year gets all the rainbow accessories. The Silver flake really catches the light too (Image credit: Trek Segafredo)
Despite riding the lightweight Emonda, Balsamo was still regularly using deep 51mm wheels as she does on her Madone (Image credit: Trek Segafredo)
Elisa Balsamo's world championship winning bike
In order to get a rainbow bike you have to ride something else to victory at the world championships, and some victory it was, outsprinting Marianne Vos of all people to take the rainbow jersey in Leuven. In Balsamo's case, she was riding for a different team at the world championships, the Valcar Travel & Service Team, compared to where she's employed currently, and so was on totally different equipment to what we see her riding today.
Her bright yellow Cannondale SuperSix Evo HiMod was decked out with Vison Metron 45 tubular wheels, with Veloflex ProTour 28mm tubulars glued onto them. A Garmin Edge 830 is leading the way instead of a Wahoo, Look Kep Classic pedals in place of Time, and a Shimano drivetrain mated to an FSA crankset and power meter take care of the power transfer.
Perhaps most interestingly of all though was a top cap above her stem with a picture of a stuffed toy dog. We have no idea whose dog it is, what it means, or how much it contributed to her victory, but it's always lovely to see human touches on pro's bikes; they are human, after all, not the machines we so often view them as.
The Cannondale's of Valcar Travel & Service Team were certainly hard to miss (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Human, after all. We'd love to see more things like this on pro bikes (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
In case there isn't enough oxygen left in the brain, a personal top tube decal acts as a handy reminder, and is a lot more fun than the usual name stickers (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Instead of SRAM, a Shimano X FSA drivetrain takes care of forward propulsion and braking (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Tubular wheels a tyres, where the tyre is physically glued onto the rim, are slowly being phased out as the years progress (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
As are separate bars and stems, here with heat-shrink wrapped cables and hoses, and notes taped to the stem (Image credit: Josh Croxton)
Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. He’s tried his hand at most cycling disciplines, from the standard mix of road, gravel, and mountain bike, to the more unusual like bike polo and tracklocross. He’s made his own bike frames, covered tech news from the biggest races on the planet, and published countless premium galleries thanks to his excellent photographic eye. Also, given he doesn’t ever ride indoors he’s become a real expert on foul-weather riding gear. His collection of bikes is a real smorgasbord, with everything from vintage-style steel tourers through to superlight flat bar hill climb machines.
