Van der Breggen has a gem on her hands — but climbing phenomenon Cavallar still has a lot to learn

Alongside the signing of established name Nienke Vinke, SD Worx-Protime also brought Valentina Cavallar to the team last winter. The 25-year-old Austrian has only been a professional cyclist for two years, having spent a long time rowing at the very highest level. In a conversation with IDL Pro Cycling, Cavallar explains how she went from the rowing boat to one of the biggest teams in the women's peloton.

The cheerful Austrian is still a newcomer to cycling. She only signed her first contract with the women's team of Arkéa-B&B Hotels on 31 March 2024. "I rowed from the age of 13 to 22 — that's a long time, ten years. I always did it with a lot of passion," says Cavallar about her earlier career.

In the boat, she made it all the way to the Olympic Games in 2021. "But that wasn't a huge success. I was only 20, though, so my ambition was to continue as a rower. A year later I came across the Tour de France Femmes by chance. I followed a stage on my bike and from that moment I started to dream of a career as a cyclist."

Many people would love to become a professional cyclist, but with the engine Cavallar had already built through rowing, the switch to the bike was always going to have a better chance of working. "I just went for it at some point, because you should do what you enjoy. But it's a completely different sport."

"In rowing it was about going as hard as you can for eight minutes in your own lane. There wasn't really any tactics or radio, and you didn't have to think about nutrition on the move," she explains. "In cycling there are so many components: nutrition, tactics, other teams and their tactics, you're on the bike for hours on end... That also makes it really enjoyable, because there are so many areas where I can still improve."

The move to cycling also had a practical side to it. "The biggest advantage of cycling is that you can make a living from it. In my rowing career I always had a side job — 14 hours a week as a fitness coach. I did that for one or two years, but it wasn't sustainable. I stopped before the Games and my parents supported me financially."

It quickly became clear that Cavallar can ride a bike extremely fast — especially uphill. But raw climbing ability alone isn't enough, as she discovered in her first year. "When I rode my very first race in the Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry in 2024, I could already feel before the start how close together we all were. My heart rate went up and it was loud around me."

"That was already an indication that you waste more energy when you're not used to it. I still waste a lot of energy now, because my nervous system is still so alert to everything we encounter and might encounter," she says. "I simply got tired from riding in the peloton, which meant I couldn't even finish a full race in the bunch in my first few months. I was often at the back."

Cavallar made rapid progress in 2024 and 2025, and her results showed it. In June of her first season she finished second in the Tour Féminin International des Pyrénées, and on her Tour de France Femmes debut in 2024 she climbed from the break on the final day to seventh place on Alpe d'Huez. In 2025, her first win followed at the Alpes Grésivaudan Classic.

"That stage to Alpe d'Huez wasn't necessarily a surprise to me, even though it was a big achievement. It was only afterwards that I realised what I'd done. I'd never raced before 2024 — the Tour was only my fifteenth race day. But I love climbing; in the mountains I'm at home. My endurance helps me, so when I'm in form, I climb really well."

But: "Riding in the peloton and descending are still my weaknesses. Finding my place in the bunch is something I really struggled with in my first year in particular. It's a difficult thing to learn, but I enjoy learning and I think I can get good at it. It takes time, but I don't see that as a bad thing. There are still so many steps I can take to improve."

Those steps are ones Cavallar wants to take at SD Worx-Protime. "Everything here is different, in a positive way. I can really learn from the best riders in the world and I want to help them win races. I want to win, and this team is built for that. In the future I hope to win stage races and Grand Tours myself, but this year I'm focusing more on winning a mountain stage."

We are very curious to see how Cavallar performs, now that SD Worx-Protime let her train and settle in for the entire first quarter of the season. She only starts racing at the Ardennes classics. "I love the directness of Dutch people. They are honest, and that's in my character too. You want feedback, even when it's negative. I've had bad experiences with people who talk behind your back."