It was July 25, 2022, when Marta Cavalli's career came to an abrupt halt during the Tour de France Femmes: there was a crash and Marta Cavalli stopped along with other riders when she was hit by another cyclist. The Italian was struck head-on and thrown to the ground like a bowling pin, with another cyclist passing over her body at extremely high speed. There were no serious injuries, but Marta, in shock, was forced to withdraw.

The fear was immense and from that moment her nightmare began, with the terror of returning to racing and being in the peloton. There was significant psychological work: subsequent crashes did not help the rider from Cremona return to her previous form. In a few days, Marta will celebrate her twenty-seventh birthday and now rides with Picnic PostNL.

"Thanks to my teammates and the sports director in the team car, we managed to do good work," Marta Cavalli explained in Siena. "We are absolutely satisfied with the first race, which was not easy: the Volta Valenciana was an important first step, and now we'll see about the second and third steps."

Marta had to regain confidence in herself; the fear of racing in a group, of falling, and being hit had overwhelmed her, and cycling, in some aspects, had become her urgent problem to solve. But when it comes to psychological shock, time is secondary, because while physical wounds always heal, mental wounds often resurface and reopen.

"More than working on it, I think it was useful to take some time. Last year, I was afraid to be in the peloton, I struggled. I had to stop and give some peace and tranquility to both my body and mind, and that's how I managed to find myself again. It was almost like a rebirth - I was the first to be surprised by how much calmer I was and how easily I could move forward, get back into the group, go to the team car, and position myself at the front in key moments. So I hope to find the same sensations in the upcoming spring races, and that would definitely be an important goal we've achieved."

The journey was long and not easy, and memories of the accident often returned, but determination and the desire to return to racing at a high level won over the fear that had darkened many of the Italian rider's days.

"Metabolizing and erasing was the best recipe. In 2024, during the second half of the year, my thoughts were never focused on racing - in fact, I tried to keep them as far away as possible, to postpone them as much as possible. I wanted to rediscover that pleasure and that desire to commit myself every day to achieve a longer-term goal beyond just enjoying the bike, training with pleasure to suffer but with a more positive than negative outcome. This helped me when I found myself in a race to have no thoughts; I was finally light, serene."

Marta Cavalli's new cycling life also came with a team change; she now races with Picnic PostNL and wants to look ahead, starting again from that Tour de France that had stopped her. "Now the goal is that, but if it doesn't happen, we won't make a drama out of it. From the team, I received a lot of tranquility, a lot of support. They went along with me during this difficult moment and helped me restart, giving me the opportunity through specialized experts and competent people to have everything I needed to return."

The work was done comprehensively, and the choice of teammates was important, who supported the Italian rider, trying to make her always feel safe. "I completely entrusted myself to the team, which gave me the opportunity to have girls nearby who can calm me down and help me in the race. Thanks to this, I hope to repay their efforts and their trust, because on my part, a great flame of passion for the sport and for the bike has returned."