Italian climber Marta Cavalli will make a fresh start in 2025, joining Team dsm-firmenich PostNL on a three-year contract. The team announced the signing this morning, describing Cavalli as a rider capable of excelling in both mountain stages and the toughest cobbled classics.
Cavalli, who hails from Cremona in Italy’s Lombardy region, began her elite career in 2017 and rose through the ranks to become one of the sport’s most consistent performers. Her breakthrough came in 2018 when she claimed the Italian national road race title. A move to the WorldTour in 2021 saw her deliver strong results, including a fourth-place finish at the Vuelta a España and a top ten at Paris-Roubaix.
The Italian climber’s 2022 season was a standout, as she dominated the Ardennes classics with victories at Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne. She also secured sixth at Liège-Bastogne-Liège and fifth at Paris-Roubaix, before taking fourth overall at Itzulia and winning the Mont Ventoux Challenge. Cavalli’s consistency carried her to second place on general classification at the Giro d’Italia Donne, where she battled Annemiek van Vleuten for the title. However, her season was interrupted by a crash at the Tour de France Femmes.
The following years brought mixed fortunes. In 2023, Cavalli celebrated general classification victories at the Tour des Pyrénées and Tour Féminin l’Ardèche, along with multiple podium finishes. Yet, 2024 proved challenging, with a pre-season hip injury followed by her withdrawal from the Vuelta a España and a training accident in July that ended her season prematurely.
Reflecting on her decision to join Team dsm-firmenich PostNL, Cavalli said, “I really 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 really trusted in me and believe that I can get back to where I was as a rider, and that was something important to me. 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.”
The team’s head coach, Rudi Kemna, also expressed optimism about Cavalli’s arrival. “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, together we can compete for results in the biggest races.”
