Billed as potentially one of the favourites for the 2022 World Championships, Marta Cavalli has confirmed that she won’t be taking part for Italy in this year’s race. Cavalli has been out since the Tour de France Femmes after being hit by Nicole Frain amongst a large pile-up in the peloton. The Italian, winner of Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne this year, needs more time to recover from the injuries sustained in France before returning to racing.
There had been hopes that Cavalli would be able to challenge Van Vleuten in the Tour de France Femmes, especially after finishing 2nd at the Giro Donne. However, a crash on the second stage in Frace derailed those plans. The impact from Frain and follow-up connecting with the ground saw Marta Cavalli receive a concussion and back trauma which is still causing issues almost 2 months later. Cavalli has returned to training but felt like the World Championships will come too early on her road to recovery.
“I still can’t train fully. It needs more time. I mainly still suffer from my neck, which still causes problems on the bike and in everyday life. The goal now is to get healthy again. I haven’t set a timeline for myself, but I hope to be able to contest the year-end races in Italy this season.”
Marta Cavalli
We may see the Italian race again at races like Giro dell’Emilia and Tre Valle Varesine. The former, in particular, could be one for Cavalli to win. The uphill finish in Bologna is a longer but reminiscent version of the Mur de Guy that saw her win Fleche Wallonne this season. Alternatively, if the recovery still isn’t perfect, then FDJ-Suez-Futuroscope may decide to rest their rider and give her the full off-season to recover and focus on the 2023 season.
