Marta Cavalli wins the Flecha Wallona and it is already a reality

Very soon, at eight in the morning, the peloton set off with cold legs and a certainty on the table: for the first time since 2014, the winner of the Fleche Wallonne would not be called Anna van der Breggen.

The Dutch, winner of seven consecutive editions, retired in September, at the height of her career, at the age of 30, to direct the very strong SD Worx.

In an edition without champions, since Marianne Vos, winner five times, is still isolated after the positive for covid last Saturday, Marta Cavalli proved to be the strongest of the day, prevailing in a beautiful final duel against Annemiek van Vleuten in the last ascent to the imposing wall of Huy.

Born 24 years ago on the banks of the Po, in Cremona, Cavalli was one of the 26 runners who repeated their presence after last Saturday's Paris-Roubaix.

Those who have pedaled on the Gallic pavés say that full recovery does not come until a week after crossing the finish line.

She did not seem to mind the Italian, who released the final whiplash a few meters from the finish line, as if her legs were new.

Lighter than her rivals —barely 53 kilos—, the Italian complied with the strategy she had in mind since yesterday, when she locked herself in the hotel to watch “lots of videos” of the Huy finish.

"She has spent everything just as she had imagined," she said as she stepped down from the podium, exultant.

And she added: “Reaching the last meters and feeling that she had the strength to beat Annemiek [van Vleuten] is indescribable.

A huge reward for all the effort we've made."

Two days earlier, on Monday, the FDJ Nouvelle, Cavalli's team, went through the infinite ramp of Huy to familiarize themselves with the terrain.

Something

in the Italian's mind: “Initially, this race wasn't in my plans, but after the reconnaissance at the wall we changed our minds”.

Six kilometers away, the peloton of the favourites, with Cavalli among them, had pulled on gallons to neutralize the escape and reduce the main group to 16 runners.

In the last turn before the ascent, the big names positioned themselves at the head to face the most tortuous kilometer of the race: a vertical ramp with an average gradient of 9.6% and maximums of close to 20%.

In an increasingly select crew, in which the talent of the Spanish Mavi García resisted, van Vleuten took the reins from the foot of the ramp and only looked back when he doubted his strength.

There he found Cavalli, glued to his wheel.

Barely a hundred meters from the finish, with the Dutchwoman from Movistar already exhausted, Cavalli gave a blow of authority and the race was over.

Arms raised for the Italian and second victory in just two weeks, after the Amstel Gold Race ten days ago.

Marta Cavalli raises her arms, accompanied on the podium by Annemiek Van Vleuten (left) and Demi Vollering (right).

Olivier Matthys (AP)

Behind, dropped from the fight for victory in the hardest part of the climb, Demi Vollering and Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio, both from the mighty SD Worx, snaked their way to the finish.

After them, Mavi García repeated the fifth place achieved last year despite not arriving at her best moment of confidence.

"I started the season with doubts and some other setbacks, but I don't really know why, the Walloon Flecha is always good for me," she said in statements to EL PAÍS.

Ane Santesteban from Gipuzkoa was tenth, 42 seconds behind Cavalli.

With the victory this Wednesday in Huy, the cyclist from Cremona completes a spring to frame.

After the triumph in the Amstel Gold Race and a creditable fifth place three days ago in Roubaix, where she suffered a hard crash several kilometers from the finish line, Cavalli was satisfied at the finish line in Huy: “I have suffered a lot these years and the confidence that I have now is something indescribable”, she said, grateful for the team's work.

And she added: “After Liege this Sunday, it's time to rest.

Then I'll think about the Giro and the Tour”.

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