Elisa Balsamo resumes training ahead of Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift

Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek) has been given the all-clear to return to training on the road by both her maxillo-facial surgeon and orthopaedic specialist. Although a final decision will be made closer to the race, her ambitions lie with the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift as she eyes up a return to racing.

Lidl-Trek team announced the news on Wednesday afternoon that they were pleased to report that Balsamo had largely recovered from her injuries sustained on stage 1 of the RideLondon Classique at the end of May, which included compound fractures of the right mandibular condyle and mandibular symphysis.

“While she still requires dental treatment to fix the teeth broken in the crash,” stated Lidl-Trek, “Elisa's focus can now shift from recovery to preparation for a return to racing.”

Before two crashes in the first half of the stage forced her to step off the bike, the Italian had been in the midst of a fine season. In addition to winning her first two races of the year at the Volta Comunitat Valenciana Fèmines, Balsamo enjoyed a consistent spring campaign that saw her take fourth-placed finishes at the Ronde van Drenthe and Danilith Nokere Koerse, alongside second-placed finishes at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Classic Brugge-De Panne.

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Elisa Balsamo’s RideLondon Classique crash robbed the Italian of her chance to defend her national championship title

Balsamo is one of the most talented sprinters in the peloton, having won the world championship road race in 2021 and the Italian national road race in 2022, and is a key rider on the Lidl-Trek team. Having joined from Valcar-Travel & Service after a breakthrough 2021 campaign, the 25-year-old is now contracted with the American outfit through to 2026.

The team say that her focus will now turn to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, where she will go in search of completing the set of stage victories from each of the ‘Grand Tours’ on the Women’s WorldTour.

Twice a stage winner at her home Giro d’Italia Donne last year, Balsamo also has a stage victory apiece at the 2020 and 2022 editions of La Vuelta Femenina (then known as the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta). A stage win at the Tour would complete the set for the young sprinter.

In the inaugural Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift last summer, the versatile sprinter came close in Saint-Dié-des-Vosges, finishing second to Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx) in the stage 5 sprint. This was preceded by a seventh-placed finish on the opening day in Paris and followed by a fourth place on stage 6. Depending on her recovery, she will be hopeful of claiming a maiden Tour stage victory this July and may even go in search of the green jersey.

As for her plans after the Tour, Lidl-Trek confirmed that the Glasgow World Championships will be her next target, where the Italian will look to transition the rainbow bands back from her sleeve cuffs to the centre of her jersey.