Twenty years later, the Wall returns to us with a great Cavalli

«The best feeling? Being on the Mur d'Huy – smiles Marta Cavalli – and realize that I still have legs to accelerateSomething that gave meaning to all my work. The conviction I've formed in recent times is that when I struggle, others do tooI saw Vollering drop away, and I wasn't at the limit yet. And that gave me the courage to attack Annemiek (Van Vleuten, ed.). It was a risk. She could have accelerated as well. Instead, she didn't make it."

He bent it. Having to describe what Marta Cavalli just did to the rocky Van Vleuten, bending is really the right verbAnd she did it with the coolness of a seasoned champion. The same coolness you get when competing for medals on the track, probably.

Twenty years after the She-Wolf

And so after exactly twenty years, we took back the Flèche WallonneThe athlete thought about it FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope, already winner of the Amstel with whom we had spoken in the last few days aboutopportunity to run the Roubaix before these Ardennes.

It was from the 2002 victory of Fabiana Luperini, the one for her of the three of a kind, that the Wall rejected usAt the time, Marta had just turned 4. And so the beautiful coincidence wanted that It was the Tuscan from Buti who presented her with the trophy (opening photo), invited for the occasion by the French of ASO, who don't miss a beat when it comes to such attentions.

«Going on stage with Fabiana 20 years after her victory – said Marta – It was like feeling my big Italian family next to meWhen you race for a foreign team you always feel a bit like you're away from home. I get along well with the French girls, we have a lot in common, but something is always missingUnfortunately, I haven't been able to race with Vittoria Guazzini yet. It was nice to hear Italian words on the podium... ".

Did you expect to win?

Not even a little. At Amstel I played on the surprise factor, while here it was a test of strengthThe team worked all day for me, but I wasn't at all sure I would be able to repay them for their work on the Wall. I tried to stay calmI know it's a bit flat at the top and you have to save your energy for that moment. So I followed suit. I waited and waited and only came out at the endYesterday we saw several videos of this race and we saw that all those who anticipated, at the top paid dearly.

Were you afraid that Van Vleuten might detach you?

Luckily for me, it's not very explosive. She takes her steady, powerful step that crushes you., but these are my same characteristics.

Still convinced that running the Roubaix was the best preparation for the Flête?

Not even a little bit (laughs, ed.)! Until yesterday and even today I had pain all over my bodyMy back screams, same thing for my ankles. It's not easy to recover the Roubaix.

Two days ago, while reconnoitering the finale, would you have ever imagined such a conclusion?

I tried to understand ratios and wheels, but I didn't imagine it would end like thisWe ran well and arrived at the finish feeling fresh, as fresh as one can be after three and a half hours of running.

The Arrow adds another skill to your resume…

I am an all-ground athlete, good for all terrains. My weak point is sprinting because I lack power., but for the rest I like to do well in all types of runningI like the classics, but I think I can also hold my own in a big Giro in the mountains.

And now comes Liège.

I have no expectations, just like I didn't have any here. I will wait without pressure for the last climbsRunning is suitable for me, but often you arrive in a sprint, so I hope a small group is selected.

That feeling of strength on the Wall?

They are grew a lot last year, finding the right way to work together with my trainer. Now we can focus on my skills, trying to grow further step by step. As for these races, the secret is to do them over and over again.

Balsamo at Cittiglio and at Ghent, your Amstel-Freccia pairing, Longo Borghini at Roubaix…

Among us Italians there is a healthy rivalry that leads us to grow and pushes us to improveThere is definitely a high-level generationI've always run with them, it seems normal to me. But these results are really great...

Rest tomorrow. A reconnaissance of the Liège route on Friday. And racing continues on Sunday.When she finally makes her way back to the team car, Marta still has the same smile on her face. If it took her a week to absorb the Amstel victory, now he has just three days to digest the Arrow and think about the next challenge.