After winning the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne in April and finishing fourth overall in the Itzulia Women, Marta Cavalli (FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope) had been hoping for good results at the Vuelta a Burgos Féminas to finish off her spring campaign before turning her focus to the summer and preparing for the Giro Donne and the inaugural Tour de France Femmes.
But the Italian's race was halted abruptly early on stage 2 of the Spanish stage race when she crashed hard, falling on her hip. Cavalli had to abandon the race and was transported to a Burgos hospital for further checks.
Cavalli's team FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope issued a statement in the evening, tweeting: "Marta Cavalli suffered a heavy fall on the roads of the 2nd stage of the Tour de Burgos, forcing her to retire. The medical examinations carried out by the hospital staff of Burgos where Marta Cavalli was transported revealed a stable medical condition with no fractures. The entire FDJ Nouvelle-Aquitaine Futuroscope team wishes to express its greatest support to Marta who will be returning home to Italy tomorrow."
Cavalli herself wrote in an Instagram post: "After a good start in Itzulia I expected a better final for this block of races but today I crashed hard on my hip. I went to the hospital for a scan and fortunately nothing is broken."
Without Cavalli, the French team will now have to rely on Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig, recently returned to racing after sitting out the Ardennes classics with Covid-19, and Grace Brown for results. Both won stages in the 2021 Vuelta a Burgos Féminas – Uttrup Ludwig achieved her stage victory on the finishing climb to Ojo Guareña that will also host the stage 3 finish on Saturday.
