Elisa Balsamo has been involved in a variety of sports since childhood and aims to maintain that diversity in her cycling career, continuing to train on the track to improve her endurance while not neglecting her sprints.

The world champion's finishing speed was evident in Wednesday's Classic Bourges des Painnes, where she outpaced pre-race favorite Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), who had won three straight races.

However, the track native has continued to develop as a road racer, winning numerous medals in international competitions at the junior, U23, and elite levels.

Balsamo has competed on the road with the Valcar team for the past five years, but track has always been her priority. Now, racing at the World Tour level with Trek-Segafredo, it is the opposite.

"I think I've grown up a bit this winter," Balsamo said at a press conference after winning the Bourges des Painnes.

"I concentrated on long training and last year I was completely focused on track training.

Nevertheless, Balsamo revealed that as a member of the Italian national team, he also regularly rides the boards in his home country.

"I still train on the track once a week because it is very important for sprinting. Because it is very important training for sprinting."

Balsamo, who was a keen swimmer and skier before turning to cycling, stressed the importance of all-round ability.

"I think it's very important for kids to play a lot of sports. So I played a lot of sports as a kid.

Improved endurance and climbing ability, as well as sustained finishing speed, have already opened the door to a wide range of races this season, including fourth place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and a win at the hilly Trofeo Alfredo Binda.

Her victory in De Pannes capped an important period in her season, with the next two cobbled classics, Ghent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, coming up on the next two Sundays. [Balsamo, who won the rainbow jersey in Leuven last September, said, "I really like racing in Belgium. I like the Belgian people and the crowds along the roads."

"I really like the two upcoming races. I want to fight for the podium."

Balsamo was keen to match her own ambitions with those of her new team. She may be a world champion, but she had planned to lead teammate Chloe Hosking, but a late race crash forced a dramatic change of plans.

The team also includes Elisa Longo Borghini and Ellen van Dijk.

"With this team, you can choose how you want the race to go. It's not easy, but we can do our own race instead of following other teams."

"We can choose how we want to race."

"We can choose how we want to race.

"The good thing is that we have a lot of good solutions, not only in sprints but also in breakaways and attacks. This is our strength."