Marta Cavalli: "I can't believe I had these legs today"

Marta Cavalli has been one of the headliners this spring as she has taken Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone into hers and FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope's palmarès, in equally impressive performances. Today, she beat Annemiek van Vleuten in the summit finish at the Mur de Huy.

"After the Amstel and Roubaix, I can't believe I had these legs today. It's not easy to beat Annemiek. Everyone knows how strong she is, and I was able to attack her in the last hundred meters to win this race. For me this is the best emotion there is. I've worked hard, it's deserved," Cavalli said in a post-race interview. She responded to the moves at the Côte de Cherave in the final kilometers, but it was in the steep gradients of Huy that the race, like every year, was decided.

She had a lot of praise to give to her teammates who were a crucial part in Cavalli's win today: “Today we worked very well together. We talked a lot and they protected me. Also in the dangerous moments, like in the more open and windy spots, before we got to the first local lap. Then they also closed the gap with the leading group. So I have to say a big thank you to the team. Not only the riders, but also the staff.”

With the Movistar rider taking control of the reduced group early in the ramps, it perhaps made the difference as Cavalli paced her effort perfectly, letting van Vleuten's wheel go at the steepest 18% gradients, but pulling herself back to the front, and then having the legs to outsprint her in the end.

“It was not easy because it is very steep. The first part I had to hold back, I stayed in Annemiek's wheel. There I waited until the last meters, because there it becomes a bit flatter. With heavy legs and after a heavy effort you can still make a big difference there. And that happened," the Italian concluded.