This morning we documented the 11th edition of the Mapei Sport conference, regarding the main event with the most technical presentations. The day just ended in the afternoon with a "round table" on a particularly delicate topic in sports: Beyond injury, resilience and career recovery.

Starting with the first-person testimony of Veronica Squinzi, CEO of Mapei, focusing on the parallel between athlete training and corporate mindset, there was naturally a lot of Sassuolo football club, with a video-message from coach Fabio Grosso and the presence of CEO Giovanni Carnevali, players Filippo Romagna, Edoardo Pieragnolo and Cecilia Prugna. With them was the former Sassuolo captain, now Juventus Primavera (U19) coach Francesco Magnanelli, as well as Andrea Panzeri, the surgeon who operated on Sofia Goggia and several winter sports athletes.

And then there are the Lidl Trek cyclists, a team that benefits from the precious support of the Mapei Sport center: a man and a woman, Simone Consonni and Gaia Realini. The female climber, about whom you can find an interview in this month's issue of our tuttoBICI magazine where she talks about her injury and recovery towards her return to competition at the Vuelta a Extremadura in early March, delivered a message that drew applause from the two hundred present: "In sports as in everyday life there are ups and downs, and only with strength and tenacity you can write an amazing ending. If you give up, it's impossible!"

Regarding Consonni, here are his statements on stage, followed by a brief exchange we had on the sidelines of the event:

"The day before the Glasgow World Championships in 2023, some trees had fallen on the bike path due to bad weather and I had a head-on collision with another cyclist the day before my track events: I broke collarbone and scaphoid, fortunately it was the only major injury so far in my career. A peculiarity of cycling is that you're not always gathered together with your team in the same place, with a nearby center available. At the time I was racing with Cofidis and I still thank Roberto Damiani (present in the audience) and the entire staff for how they assisted me in returning to competition. The Lidl Trek I've been racing with since last year is a structure that gives you incredible security, with super professionals who allow you to approach training and races more serenely. My family was also fundamental, who stood by me during that not-so-simple moment. We cyclists always seek that extra training, that extra repetition, to push ourselves to the maximum of our possibilities, and when you're injured and can't do it it's an enormous frustration. You also need someone next to you to remind you to take the time you need."

Today you talked about injuries, but you're doing great, right?

"Absolutely! The season started very well, with the TTT won in Valencia and victories by Milan in various World Tour events. We've fine-tuned the train, even making those small mistakes that are good to make early to know how to avoid them in the most important moments. At the Tirreno-Adriatico I had a small low point due to a crash but especially a gastrointestinal problem, it wasn't easy mentally to watch Jonny's victory in San Benedetto without being able to be there in person, but it's all overcome. I've regained condition at Nokere and Bredene and in a few hours I'll be heading to Belgium for the De Panne the day after tomorrow. In two weeks, this first positive part of 2025 will be archived at the Scheldeprijs."

Looking a bit further ahead with plans, in July there will be Milan at the Tour de France and consequently a Consonni...

"Premise that in a squad like this you never have a guaranteed spot and I'll have to earn my call-up, it will be my second time but I feel it almost like the first. In 2020 with Cofidis it was the September Tour in the Covid year, I even made a podium in Lyon but in that surreal atmosphere it wasn't the same thing. My role will definitely be similar to back then: at the time I was the 'pilot fish' for Elia Viviani, this time for Jonathan Milan."

In line with Jonny's choices, this year, which is also the furthest from the Olympics, are you putting track cycling a bit on the back burner?

"More than anything there are calendar reasons, with the World Cup practically coinciding with the UAE Tour and World Championships to be held in Chile: it's one thing to go to Belgium and the Netherlands, another to go to the other side of the world, with the need for more elaborate planning. However I still train on the track and race when I can, like at the Six Days of London and Bremen in recent months."

[PHOTO Roberto Bettini]