Laia Sanz (Corbera de Llobregat, 37 years old), the queen on the Dakar on motorcycles, 14 times world champion in Trials and 6 in enduro, He is the latest motor star to venture into the Titan Desertwhere he will try a unique experience of riding an electric bicycle for three days.
The multi-champion, ‘top’ ten in the absolute classification of the Dakar, He is back with the KH7 jersey to ride the tracks that gave him so much success.
“Titan Desert always makes me happy. I really like the desert, it’s a place I know very well, I think every place I pass through will be familiar to me., but I came in a different way, without the competitive side, and that makes me happy. When I go with the motorcycle, I always have to keep an eye on the road book. It’s a way of enjoying the scenery, which allows me to rest and disconnect, a kind of vacation,” Laia Sanz explained to EFE, starting this Wednesday in Titan.
In the EBike category, participants will do both the last three stages of the Titan Desert Morocco, with routes shared with the race peloton, as well as living in the same camp and enjoying the experience with all the Titans. A unique way of discovering the challenge, through cultural and sports travel.
“I’m not a cyclist, and I don’t spend enough time on a bike to make a true Titan. I went with electric to do a survey of everything. The Titan has always caught my attention. So this is an opportunity to get to know the race, to see it, I hope I don’t suffer too much, and who knows if soon I can do it on a conventional bike. With an electric bike, I won’t be a motorcycle queen, but I’m happy. That’s the goal, I’ll never compete.”
As Sanz explains, “to run the Titan you have to spend a lot of time on the bike.” “And I don’t do that. The bike is a supplement to my training but I spend a lot of time in the gym and training on the bike, and I don’t find time for more,” he added.
The experience of the camps and the fact of sleeping in haimas is also not a problem for Laia Sanz, because this kind of coexistence and scenario is typical of Dakar.
“I’m used to Dakar, where 4,000 people live in a huge camp, but I’m excited to see this. The Titan is always called to me, among other things because it reminds me of the Dakar, it is the Dakar on a bike“.
Among the differences she sees between the Titan and the Dakar, Laia Sanz is clear about the strategy.
Dakar is a race where you fight against yourself, you have to think, dose yourself well. I think I got the point right, especially with the motorcycle years. Also, I’ve always been lucky not to fall, and it’s a matter of knowing yourself fully, not going beyond the limit, I’ve always been good at it and next year I hope to be there improving and learning”.
EQUALITY ADVANCES IN DAKAR, BUT IT WILL NOT BE TOTAL
In the motor world, the champion is eminently masculine feels “like another player” but sees some big changes in recent years.
“I feel good, like one of the others, I have been living in this situation for many years and I am not strange, they treat me well.. There are experiences in all classes but I can’t complain, luckily there are more women, this year we are 55, the number is increasing, not only of pilots, but of engineers, mechanics, press officers. You’re starting to see more women on teams and that’s important.”
Despite the fact that progress is made in social equality, Laia Sanz considers that “in the end there will never be equality because in the motor world there are many more kids trainingso it is normal that in a race there are more men, but more women.
An important aspect of both the Titan and the Dakar is navigation, the art of orienting yourself properly to take the right route.
ADVENTURE IS THE WAY TO LEARN TO NAVIGATE
Navigating the Dakar is more complicated because we have GPS, but it’s covered, we can’t see, it doesn’t give us information about where we should go, you have to follow the compass. It’s something more authentic, at the same time a cool part of racing.”
Laia admits to getting lost “many times in the desert”, but it is certainly the way to learn to orient yourself.
“All of us who have done the Dakar have gone astray, both training and racing, but that is the way to learn. In that case, you have to be patient, cool-headed, think, sometimes go back to the exact point where you know what you’re doing right. Navigation is practiced and learned from mistakes.
“The queen of the desert” added her name to the list of participants from the motor world who competed in both Dakar and Titan Desert. Other notable pilots who embarked on the adventure of BTT are Rosa Romero, Joan Pedrero, Marc Guasch, Albert Bosch, Jordi Viladoms, José Ramón Gutiérrez and Marc Coma, among others.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Robert Maynard, and I am a passionate journalist with experience in sports writing. For the last few years, I have been writing for Today Times Live. My main focus has been on sports-related stories and features. With my strong background in journalism and extensive knowledge of the industry, I am able to provide readers with well-crafted pieces that are both informative and engaging.
