Only some days on from her 3rd Trofeo Alfredo Binda victory, Elisa Balsamo is hoping to make it two giant wins in per week as she leads Lidl-Trek on the remodeled Milan-San Remo Girls, a race she predicts to be difficult however now not out of doors of her features.
Being the primary ladies’s version of the race in twenty years – six editions of the Primavera Rosa have been run within the early 2000s – there are numerous questions on what sort of riders may live on to contest the end, however Balsamo hopes she may also be one among them.
“Of course winning San Remo is a dream, I think for everyone, but especially as an Italian rider. This is the first year again and I know that every year there will be this race, but of course it’s a big dream for me [to win this edition],” she instructed the click on Tuesday afternoon.
Having gained Binda in quite dominant type, it’s transparent that Balsamo’s shape is there, even on routes with extra mountaineering, so Saturday shall be extra about looking to get the techniques and teamwork proper in a quite hard-to-anticipate race.
“I’m feeling good, but I also think that you never know what can happen in these kind of races,” she mentioned. “It’s more or less like Binda – you don’t know if there will be a bunch sprint, a small bunch, a breakaway, or a solo, and I think it’s going to be the same in Sam Remo, even if the profile of the race is really different. So I just need to fight and I need to believe in that, and then we will see.”
If she makes it to the By the use of Roma, Balsamo could be a best favorite to win from any dimension team, however she’s hoping for one thing extra selective.
“My perfect scenario is a small bunch sprint,” she mentioned. “But I know that before, I need to survive on the climbs, and also the downhill is quite technical, but I really hope for a small bunch sprint.”
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To get to that time and contest the victory, alternatively, Balsamo must cope with the Tre Capi – 3 smaller climbs within the ultimate 60km – after which the famed Cipressa and Poggio, two climbs that aren’t overly steep however subsequently shall be raced at pace.
“I think the climbs are hard but not crazy hard, so I think they are good climbs for a Classics rider or a sprinter that is able to survive on the climbs,” she mentioned, necessarily describing her personal rider profile.
“I think maybe the Capo Berta is a little bit underestimated, it’s still 2km and it’s quite steep, but honestly I think it’s too far from the finish. But It can make a little difference in the peloton.”
As for the overall climbs, Balsamo is making ready for assaults, the place she and her Lidl-Trek crew must paintings difficult to stick in competition and in place in opposition to a most probably onslaught from more potent climbers like Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez).
“I think there will be also attacks on the Cipressa. There are a lot of strong teams and strong climbers or Classics riders, so I think the Cipressa will be really hard from the bottom to the top, and they will try to attack,” she mentioned.
“But I also think that it’s still long between the Cipressa and the Poggio, and maybe we can come back – maybe not all together but a small group – and then on the Poggio, for sure they will attack. I think we really need to ride as a team, because it’s possible to come back in between the Cipressa and the Poggio, it’s still long.”
Balsamo made a nominal point out of her crew’s different choices – Niamh Fisher-Black will get started as their most powerful climber – however the Italian will get started because the transparent chief, with a powerful crew assembled across the ambition of handing over her to the highest of the Poggio within the entrance team.
The one worry shall be not to play unhealthy video games with the breakaway, because the peloton did at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, however Lidl-Trek must be counted among the groups who will take duty for maintaining issues below regulate.
“I think that everyone learned from Nieuwsblad, but also everyone really wants to win San Remo, so there can be a breakaway, but all the peloton will work together to [not let the break] get ten minutes, and then everyone will fight on the climb,” Balsamo mentioned.
“So I’m quite sure that at least five or six teams can work together to keep the breakaway close because it’s such an important race and everyone wants to fight for the win.”
A wealth of revel in within the crew automotive
In addition to Balsamo’s Classics power and speedy dash, Lidl-Trek have one thing of a trick up their sleeves: the revel in of DS Ina Teutenberg, who raced the Primavera Rosa all over her profession as a professional.
The German isn’t the one DS who will pass into Saturday with exact racing revel in – Human Powered Well being’s Giorgia Bronzini additionally raced the previous ladies’s Milan-San Remo on 3 events – however her experience will indubitably be a bonus as Balsamo appears to be like to observe Trixi Worrack as the following winner of this Italian Monument.
“We are lucky to have Ina with us,” Balsamo mentioned of her long-term director. “She was riding with us today and yesterday. I think she can give us important feedback in the climbs. She was a really, really strong rider and she said that she really believed that we can survive on the climbs.
“She has numerous revel in, now not simplest on this race, so it’s in reality great to have a DS like her. She’s raced nearly each and every race we’re doing now, so I feel it’s great as a result of she can provide numerous tips and recommendation.”
A lot of that advice has revolved around the descents, with Lidl-Trek identifying the downhills as a place to make a difference, and the riders working with a technical coach, specifically on descending, in the run-up to the race.
“I feel [the descents] are in reality vital, as a result of we will see that the lads’s race was once additionally gained within the downhill of the Poggio in some years, so it’s now not simplest about being speedy within the climb, but in addition being just right within the downhill,” Balsamo said.
As the Italian pointed out, everyone will want to win on Saturday, but it would be extra special for Balsamo. Not just as it’s her home Classic, but because the 27-year-old has had two seasons somewhat marred by crashes and bad luck, and this is her chance to really have a clean run at the spring, and hopefully, a huge win.
“In fact coming again after two in reality unhealthy crashes was once now not simple, however I’m in reality satisfied that I’m right here and that I think just right,” she said. “I used to be a little bit bit unfortunate within the closing two years, however I used to be at all times preventing, so I’m simply satisfied to be again to feeling just right and to be right here with my crew.”
