The World Champion will ride Ultegra on her new custom Cannondale
The World Champion will ride Ultegra on her new custom Cannondale
Cannondale has unveiled a hand-painted SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod Disc for newly crowned World Champion Elisa Balsamo of Italy. Bikes designed to commemorate World Championship can be difficult to get right, but Cannondale has kept it simple and seemingly hit the nail on the head with a white frame clad with a rainbow band bridging the head tube, top tube and seat tube.
Balsamo, who rides for the Cannondale sponsored Valcar-Travel & Service team, is well accustomed to the SuperSix Evo, and will now race the remainder of her final season with the team with this new paint job.
The bike is kitted out with Vision Metron wheels, Veloflex tyres, Elite bottle cages, a stuffed bear top cap.
One thing that has not changed for the custom bike, or since winning worlds, is Balsamo’s groupset. Balsamo raced on Shimano’s second-tier Ultegra Di2 R8070 groupset before the Worlds, to Worlds victory, and is sticking with Ultegra now for the first races in her reign as World Champion.
As good as Ultegra is, evidently good enough to win the worlds, it seems strange to see the groupset on a World Champions bike. Who was the last World Champion to race with a second-tier groupset? Here’s a clue, it wasn’t an elite men’s World Champion. Perhaps this is simply a good reminder to all of us that our groupset isn’t going to win or lose us anything.
These photos are also the first glimpse of Balsamo’s new Rainbow band clad Valcar-Travel & Service World Champion kit. In good news, Balsamo has kept it traditional with black shorts to compliment the iconic white and rainbow strips jersey.
Elisa Balsamo’s world championship Cannondale SuperSix Evo 
Sometimes simple is best. 
FSA crankset. 
Recon day. 