A pink hue suddenly colors the asphalt of the Vuelta CV Féminas in Spain. It's Chiara Consonni (in the opening Instagram photo) who seems being unable to do anything but fall and roll on the ground letting the bike slip from his legs. This is what happened to the tiger on February 6th. Valcar-Travel&Service...
What exactly happened?
It was a bit of a hesitation. I'm innocent (laughs, ed.)! My characteristic is to throw myself into sprints without thinking about anything. Now, after the race, I think that maybe I could have taken a different line. Guarischi changed trajectory a bit abruptly, but it wasn't anyone's fault, come on…
Are all members of the group capable of managing scrums?
We who compete in UCI races, we participate in so many competitions, we know how to move in a group and we practiceWe are all capable of riding a bike. But yes, maybe there are… athletes who have just started this sport and others like me who have been in the saddle all their livesSome of us fall due to lack of habit and inexperience. Most of us know each other in the group, we are all more or less experienced and we try to move to create as few problems as possible.
You're a track tiger, you have a good eye, for the others... is it the same?
I can be very quick, especially in sprints. I made mistakes many times and they taught me how to move and how to best position yourself to take it well. I definitely have a good eye for the track and I can understand where to be at the right time.This is also possible thanks to the presence of the train that my classmates take. So yes, maybe I have a good eye, but I also trust my classmates blindly, especially Ilaria (Sanguineti who finished second in the Spanish race, ed.) who is my “last woman”.
When you fall, when do you realize what's happening? Are you afraid?
In this one, but in all the ones I've done, I fell pretty wellI watched the video again and realized I was slipping into a gap that had opened up between a girl on my left and Barbara on my right, who hadn't seen me and cut me off. I couldn't help it. I didn't have the presence of mind to brake even a little, in those moments you have just a few seconds to react. Fortunately I managed to cover my face and rolled over. I have abrasions on both my right and left knees.Maybe I'm wrong, but my instinct to just jump in and do whatever my mind tells me at that moment is impossible to quell.
Is falling and hurting yourself a price you should be willing to pay when playing this sport?
Yes! I've been running since I was six. I broke my radius and had surgery, also my ulna and I still have the metal plate, the capitellum, the nose. In short, I broke myself in half (laughs, ed.)! It's a disadvantage of this sport, but it's part of it. Sometimes I was sidelined from some important races just because of some of my falls.But it's part of the game and you have to accept it.
What advice would you give to other cyclists to help them avoid crashes in groups as much as possible?
Be careful not at the beginning of the race because there is a bit of carefree, but be careful especially when going downhill or during the most important moments of the raceWe must pay attention to everything we do: from talking on the radio to eating something. We are on two wheels with a helmet that saves our lives, but there's no point in risking for so little. So: be careful and don't take anything lightly.
