She will do it slowly alongside a friend, who is now much more than a training partner, because Mirco is clearly one of those people who helped bring Marta Cavalli back to cycling, who at a precise moment in her life had even thought of abandoning the bicycle.

I meet Marta in our editorial office. She comes to visit us, eager to tell her story after difficult months. She has rediscovered the lightness of thought and her smile is reflected in her eyes. Shy, reserved, and modest enough, she wants to whisper those words that to our ears have a gentle sound, like the rustle of a bicycle wheel. «I have rediscovered the pleasure of being in the saddle: it no longer scares me», she tells me.

It was tough, for her and for those around her. The fear of going out on a bicycle accompanied her for months. There is no triggering reason, no fact that could clearly mark the beginning of what could have been the end of her career. The fall at the Tour on July 25, 2022? Perhaps. But it is a series of episodes, a sum of situations that contaminated the mind of a girl who at a certain point found herself imprisoned in her thoughts, which turned into fear.

«I finished the second stage of the Vuelta on April 29. That day stayed with me for a long time - she tells me -. Many falls, an accumulation of infinite stress. The fear was too great, as was the inability to react, to pull myself out, so much so that the next day I didn't feel like starting again».

What broke?

«The priority had changed. I no longer cared about being the first to cross the finish line, but my only goal was to arrive safe and sound. Too little for an athlete, too difficult for someone like me who was used to something else».

In January, you also broke your acetabulum.

«A fall in Calpe, when I was at a training camp with the entire team. I slipped in a trivial way, but that was just a bump. Three weeks of stop and then back to pedaling, with the Giro dream ahead of me, even though ugly thoughts were spinning in my head. I felt I no longer had the lightness of a girl enjoying cycling. My head was intoxicated with too many negative thoughts».

The recurring thought?

«Returning home. I had lost the joy of being in the saddle. As a teenager, you live in the age of innocence that coincides with unconsciousness. I found myself thinking too much».

How many races did you do?

«Five. The Trofeo Binda, Flèche Wallonne (9th), Liège, and two stages at the Vuelta. The problem was that the recurring thought was: why am I doing this? My mind was occupied with other thoughts. I like training, but I miss the lightness of competition. I talk about it with my trainer Flavien Soenen, he tells me: take some time for yourself. Ride with the sole objective of having fun. In those three weeks, I let myself be guided only by the desire to pedal as I wanted when I wanted and with whom I desired. Free, without schedules or objectives: I took my time».

On July 5, however, the impact with a car.

«Hit at a roundabout near Maleo (Lodi). I end up crashing against a car, violently hitting the windshield and the bicycle breaks into three. I'm shocked, I feel absolutely defeated. I tell myself: enough! For forty days, I don't want to know anymore, I no longer have a bicycle and I don't want to have a new one. I just want to enjoy daily life. I go away for two weeks to the sea in the French Riviera with some friends, also cyclists. Or rather, they with the bicycle, me no: just beach».

Mirco is there too.

«He's there too, and he changes the flow of things with absolute calm and sweetness. First with a few jokes, then with concrete actions. We are friends, we become something more. "Come on, don't let me go out alone...", he says to me. In the end, I decide. It's August 10, an afternoon, I go out alone, for forty minutes: from that moment, I went back to thinking that the bicycle is the most beautiful thing that exists...».

After Mirco...

«Also. If that's the case, also after my family, all people who served to help me see life from a different perspective».

Now your eyes also have a different light.

«You think? I feel much more serene. I want to go back to doing what I have always done out of pure passion».

Now you can do it with one more fan.

«Mirco (Remondini, ed.) is a baker, we share a passion for ovens and stoves: he makes bread, I make desserts. Plus, we both go cycling. He does it as an amateur, but he has raced, he knows what it means. By my side, he relived what he had gone through - the torments and fears that often assail athletes - and helped me get back up».

Now there's also a new jersey waiting for you.

«I must thank FDJ Suez from the bottom of my heart, who was really patient and kind, but found a Marta this year who was too fragile and scared. Now my manager, Fabio Perego, has met a new reality, DSM, which came forward to find out what my situation was, and a few weeks ago we found an agreement to try to attach the number to my back again. I was clear with them: I come from a complicated situation, I want to get back in the game, but give me time. They immediately showed me understanding and availability».

What do you ask of the new season?

«To find myself again. I like the idea of putting the number on my back again, I feel the sensations of the past».

Are you already training?

«Absolutely yes, and I can't wait to do the first training camp with the new team, I think it can only do me good. I want to go back to riding in a group».
And as she says this, her eyes light up with a new light, it's not just that of love, or maybe it is.