Run with her bike – Laura Cosentino Interview

Laura Cosentino and sport have always been a unique thing.
First world sailing champion and then cyclist with several podiums and important results, Laura’s adventure in the sports world has just begun. She has recently collaborating with the Under Armour team and is approaching the running world. Will be running her next goal?

Hi Laura, tell me briefly about yourself.
I am Laura Cosentino, I am 28 years old and have always been a sportswoman.
As a child I practiced different sports and have always loved to compete. I believe that sport is something that I have right inside me and that has always come naturally to me.
I was born and raised in Mestre, in the province of Venice, and I have a two year younger brother who I am very close to. We started practicing sports together, from sailing to tennis, my family has always pushed us to play sports but without pressure or obligations. Competitiveness is something that came by itself, just for the pleasure of competing and for the satisfaction of getting good results.

How did you approach the world of sport?
I started practicing gymnastics but after two weeks I’ve been already discarded because I was too tall! Then I moved to tennis, which I practiced for 8 years and is still one of my greatest passion. During winter I went skiing in the Dolomites, where my family has a mountain home. In the last 15 years, however, I have dedicated myself almost exclusively to sailing.
I started in the youth categories in a classic sailing school and then I started to compete in the first races. I was good at it, I had fun and I was also able to get good results. When I was 16 I switched to Laser Radial, the women’s Olympic class, achieving decent results. At international level, however, success never came and when I failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics in 2016, I decided to end that career and move onto another chapter.

What happened?
I completely lost motivation after this rather important failure.
So I moved to Lake Garda for 6 months where I started working in a sailing shop and also as an instructor in a sailing school. In the village where I lived, Torbole, I met a group of guys who usually went out cycling on road bikes. I only had a mountain bike and to have some company I started renting a road bike and I became passionate. It all happened by chance but I immediately liked it and in the summer of 2016 I bought my first road bike. I began cycling for kilometers and making  longer and longer rides. Then I tried my first granfondo and recently I managed to get some satisfaction out of the results!

When did you start to live this new passion in a more competitive way?
In 2017 I took part in the Granfondo Pinarello in Treviso and with my great surprise I managed to get a third place in my category. It gave me a great motivation because up to that time I was cycling for just passion and without competitive ambitions. Having been an athlete all my life I had approached the world of cycling just to have fun and stay fit. Instead, that unexpected podium made me realize that I had some potential and I could achieve more maybe through more specific trainings. I set myself the goal of the Maratona dles Dolomites in Corvara for the following year in which I got a third place overall in the medium distance. For me it was the culmination of a dream, I never expected such a good result in that famous and prestigious race. It was one of the best days on my bike!

Then the first contacts with sponsors arrived.
It all started with a collaboration with Smith Optics and I took part in several of the brand’s shootings. The company sponsors the Cinelli team and when the opportunity to be part of it came out, I immediately took it! I became part of the team a couple of months ago and I instantly had a great time. It is quite a particular team because there is no the anxiety about performance or results, when we go to the races the aim is to have fun all together and see new places. We always give our best in every competition, always with the goal of getting a good result but this never ends up in fanaticism, in the obsession to finish first.

And now you’re collaborating with the Under Armour athletic team.
Yes, and in addition to some trainings I participate in various brand activations that are real experiences. The team was born based on cycling but it is diversifying on a vertical basis by participating in very different disciplines.
With Under Armor we took part as a team in the relay race of the Milan Marathon. It was a fun and interesting experience, beautiful even as team building because the previous three months to the race, every Tuesday, we met the Under Armor team for different types of trainings following the multi sport philosophy that characterizes the brand that often privileges what is the correct preparation for a race and not just the competitive moment itself.

Why is cycling still a mainly male sport?
I think it’s mainly because it is an extremely tiring sport and most girls are not willing to make certain sacrifices. I think that many women are also a little frightened by the idea of struggling and spending so many hours on the saddle. But I have noticed that in recent years, with the globalization of cycling, more and more girls have approached cycling. I actually believe we are more capable to suffer than men. Perhaps many women are just a little afraid of putting themselves to test.

In your sporting life you also had to face many sacrifices and giving ups, not many guys of your age would be willing to accept that. Where do you find the motivation?
I find it mainly in myself, I have always had it inside because I have always been a bit inclined towards competition and races. Making sacrifices has never weighed on me and I have always found the motivation by setting myself some short-term goals even not related to mere competition. Doing a certain climb in a specific time maybe, not to challenge others but to challenge myself and my own limits.

Future projects?
My next goal is once again the Maratona dles Dolomites, in two weeks. Unfortunately this year I had two injuries in a short time, two bike crashes that compromised my training a bit. I first dislocated my collarbone and shortly thereafter had an elbow tendonitis so I hope to be able to get back on bike soon.

You are also a mountains and outdoor life lover. Does cycling help you to know more about the mountain or is it the mountain that makes you discover cycling?
From my point of view it is cycling that let you discover the mountain, you can consider it a means of transport that takes you wherever you want, you just need two legs and and the go in order to discover new places. Places where perhaps with the car you would never arrive and this is also the beauty of cycling, use the bike without setting limits of time, distances and goals and pedal while having fun. Enjoy the moment discovering new places, landscapes and even something more about yourself.

From my point of view it is cycling that let you discover the mountain, you can consider it a means of transport that takes you wherever you want, you just need two legs and and the go in order to discover new places.