The incredible story of Cavigliasso: 5 years ago he asked her to marry him in the desert and now they have won a stage of the Dakar together

That night, off the Pacific coast, the Dakar It closed its 2019 edition in Lima, Peru. Among the winners, Nicolás Cavigliasso from Córdoba took to the ramp, notably winning in that category.

During the protocol of the awards ceremony, in which the top leaders of the traditional competition place the precious medal around the necks of the winners, Nicolás celebrated, posed for photographers and He hugged and kissed his girlfriend, Valentina, who was also a key pillar in his team’s structure. He took care of all the details, also designing the roadbook for the subsequent stages.

Suddenly, and when it seemed that the quadricycle was already giving way to other vehicles to continue with the awards ceremony, it surprised everyone. Also at the official broadcast of the Dakar. Over there, He rested one knee on the ground and opened a small box which he took out from one of the many pockets to declare his love to Valentina Pertegarini.. That action went around the world: a Dakar winner asked his girlfriend for her hand, and, amidst great surprise, she responded in the affirmative.

The Cavigliassos became a married couple. Nico and Valentina have known each other since they shared fourth grade in a school in General Cabrera, when he left a rural school to move to that entity in the city of the Mediterranean province. From there they were inseparable.

They shared races of all kinds, living together in a residential unit in the United States for more than two years, when Nico was competing in the American ATV championships. And now, together, as always, they face the Challenger category, the light vehicles, between driver and navigator.

They faced the Dakar 2024 with great enthusiasm. The level of the crew is really excellent and the race plan was to fight for the top of the category. But the Dakar started badly for the Argentine representatives. Punctures at the start delayed the vehicle, which had to navigate the initial stages between the trucks, losing time to the leaders of the discipline.

Gradually they went up in general. And this allowed them to stabilize in the rankings. But, unusually, bad luck held them back almost to the point of abandonment. During the day of rest, in Riyadh, the Taurus team changed the differential to a brand new onewith the idea of ​​hosting the vehicle with the best for the second half of the Dakar.

On the 7th stage, departing from the capital of Saudi Arabia, the vehicle suffered the failure of this element. There he remained the Cavigliasso couple, lying in the middle of the desert waiting for the team truck to arrive with another spare differential. Eventually night fell, very cold, and they got to work. Having changed the differential, they headed towards Al Duwadimi camp, where they arrived after midnight.

This delay has marginalized the Cordobans from the fight for the top of the category. The Cavigliassos, however, did not give up. They came out completely and In the ninth stage, between Ha’il and AlUla, they achieved victory in the discipline.

“We couldn’t impose our pace at the start of the Dakar, among the trucks. We couldn’t have a good stage. Then we moved up in position and there we achieved the race we wanted”, repeated Nico.

But everything comes and Cavigliasso were patient: “It was several years of training and dedication, of searching for a way back, of insistence. The other day, when we broke up, everything fell apart. But the Dakar also has a lot of this, of overcoming oneself, of setting new goals every day, and today winning the special makes us very happy.”

Challenger is a category that allows you to get on board cars of the highest level. Winning a stage in the discipline allows you to access the official teams. “As a driver you aim for this, to promote, to enter different places that are based on results. It’s not easy, but anything can happen

The last time the rider from Córdoba won a stage of the Dakar was here in Saudi Arabia, in 2020, with his quadricycle. “Last year I was racing with this category and I couldn’t find my way. But today, starting from a good position, I achieved this result. It took a while, but it arrived, “he told Clarín as soon as he arrived at Toro.

And he added: “Cavigliasso, in addition to the Dakar, has as his highest objective the World Championship of the specialty, which begins with this race in Saudi Arabia, so he already has good points, for the bonuses, and also for this partial victory: “We are fighting for the world title. It’s all about scoring points. We will be in Dubai, also in the Ruta 40 Challenge in Argentina. So the idea is to go ahead and go for the crown.”

The winner of the stage explained: “Going forward now, we hope to get three podiums in the remaining stages between now and the end of the Dakar.”“underlined Cavigliasso, alluding to the final stretch that the competition will face, which will end next Friday in Yanbú.”

Meanwhile, his wife – commented Valentina: “If you asked me two days ago how I was, everything was black for us. And today we are happy to be able to win the stage. The fact that we were fifth yesterday helped us a lot, to reach a good starting position, favored by the better track conditions.”

The navigator spoke about that bad experience with the differential: “We had it in our heads that we wanted to continue, that we wouldn’t abandon. When we went to refuel and were told we could continue, we were happy. We did 280 kilometers at night, but this helped us keep the numbers blank, we didn’t get addicted and we kept running,” he said, while receiving a hug from his father-in-law, Walter Cavigliasso.

The category is dominated by the North American Mitch Guthrie, escorted by the Spanish Cristina Gutiérrez and the Chilean Francisco “Chaleco” López. In 9th place, Cavigliasso will have another opportunity to obtain a great result in the 10th stage, in “roller”, starting and finishing in AlUla.