Vollering / Van Vleuten-killer Cavalli to dsm-firmenich PostNL: "Returning to highest level"

Marta Cavalli will leave FD-Suez and join Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. The 26-year-old Italian was the leading name in the spring two years ago and one of the biggest competitors of Annemiek van Vleuten and Demi Vollering, but after a period filled with bad luck, she hopes to find this form again with her new team.

Searching for her old form was an essential reason for the transfer, she told the website of the Dutch team. "I enjoyed my time at FDJ-Suez but after four years I wanted a change and a chance to meet new people and experience new things. That gives me a lot of motivation to continue to make steps and I think there are opportunities to do that with Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. From our first talks the team has trusted in me and believe that I can get back to where I was as a rider, and that was something important to me."

In 2022, Cavalli won the Amstel Gold Race and the Flèche Wallonne, ahead of Demi Vollering and Annemiek van Vleuten, respectively. In that year's Giro Donne, she only had to allow the latter ahead of her. But thanks in part to crashes (for example, in the Tour de France Femmes), things haven't run smoothly in recent years. "There are a lot of people within the team who can help me grow as a rider and person. I've been a bit unlucky the past few years, so this is a good chance to restart and my goal is to come back to the highest level possible at Team dsm-firmenich PostNL."

Read more below the photo!

Cavalli was rocked by Nicole Frain in the Tour de France Femmes.

Kemna: "Competing in the biggest races"

Head coach Rudi Kemna is already confident that the Italian climber will find her way back to the top. "Marta is physically a very talented bike rider, and she has taken some incredible wins at the highest level of the sport. She's not only just a pure climber as she also has a good engine and has fought for top results in some of the hardest cobbled classics out there. Of course, she has had a lot of misfortune in recent years which has been tough on her, but she is a really determined character who has shown tenacity to fight back to where she is now, and she always wants to give her all. We believe that we have a good support network within the team that can help her to regain her confidence even more; and with our experts and coaches that together we can compete for results in the biggest races."

The calendar for the cyclo-cross season is now online! Check it out here. Or check out our general calendars for the remainder of the season for the men and women's races.

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