Marta Cavalli to miss Strade Bianche due to lingering effects of Tour de France Femmes concussion

Cavalli suffered a concussion after she was hit from behind in a crash at the 2022 Tour de France Femmes.

Published Mar 2, 2023 Sadhbh O'Shea

Photo: Tim de Waele / Getty Images

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Marta Cavalli will not race Strade Bianche at the weekend as she still continues to suffer the consequences of a concussion from the 2022 Tour de France Femmes.

FDJ-Suez pulled the Italian rider out of racing for an undetermined amount of time while she recovers. She will continue to train during her hiatus from racing.

Cavalli has raced twice so far this season at the UAE Tour and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, which she did not finish, and Strade Bianche was due to be her next race.

“In light of Marta Cavalli’s early season races, FDJ-Suez team management has decided, in agreement with the cyclist, to withdraw her from [the] Strade Bianche start list scheduled on March 4, 2023,” a statement from the team said. “Despite resuming high-intensity training and taking part in early season camps, Marta Cavalli wants to give herself time to fully recover from the physical consequences of her accident during stage 2 of the Tour de France Femmes 2022.

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“Marta will observe a period of time without racing and will continue training at high intensity, accompanied by Flavien Soenen, the team’s performance director. Stephen Delcourt, general manager of FDJ-Suez, and the staff wish to [do] everything that is possible to enable Marta to race at the highest level of performance, as she did in 2022.”

Cavalli suffered a concussion after a high-speed crash during the second stage of the Tour de France Femmes last year, when she was trying to avoid another crash that had happened in front of her.

She was hit from behind by another rider who was attempting to pass through the crash site at speed, causing her to come off her bike and hit her head.

The Italian missed several months of racing and was forced to skip the world championships in Australia as a result of the concussion. She returned to racing in October, nearly three months after the crash, and competed at two Italian one-day races and the three-day Tour de Romandie.

https://twitter.com/FDJ_SUEZ/status/1631234034884919296