Nani Romehis mentor since he was 11 years old, insisted that the media be patient with Edgar Canet, that they not praise him or label him a future Dakarian champion and that he be allowed to grow, without rushing. He doesn’t want anyone to distract the kid or lose focus on the job he has to do at just 19, which right now is to learn and continue studying, grow as a rider, forge himself at KTM as a future champion all. visible to him.
However, for the media, drivers and fans, it was very difficult to pay attention to Folgueroles because of amazing and remarkable debut of the boy from La Garriga in Dakar 2025where In his debut he was crowned champion of the Rally2 categorywith an incredible 8th position in the overall motorcycle standings, among the best in the world, against riders with more experience and kilometers on a rally motorcycle. And also, as if that wasn’t enough, he finished 2nd in the Dakar stage. Unbelievable. The youngest in history to achieve this.
Perhaps some can compare his case to young talent Mason Kleinwho debuted in the 2022 Dakar with 9th place at the age of 20 and is now an official Kove driver. But in the bivouac, the feeling was that Canet’s case was unique and exceptional, that it could not be compared to anything seen so far.
Jordi Viladoms, KTM sports directorshowed his surprise every day in the Dakar bivouac before the MD. “We would have been happy with less than half what he did”he pointed out. Even the day Edgar decided it was a good idea to lift the wheel of his motorcycle when he noticed the presence of a helicopter to speed up and record a video that would go around the world in the middle of the stage, Jordi did. t even pull his ears. “I was going to say something to him, but then you look at him and say: the guy has embroidered it.”he said between laughs.
At KTM they are amazed at the courage with which Canet has grown every day, learning to navigate at the speed of the best, to open the track when he needs to, to prove the lines of other riders with his roadbook when he needs, without. trusting in nobody’s footsteps, and to tame his KTM on such a long, difficult stage and in a race of such duration, something he had never done before. Far from being overcome by fatigue, with the rapidity of the heights and the passing of the days, he continued pushing as if he had completed 6 or 7 dakars.
And the surprising thing is that he did it when he was only 19 years old.something very remarkable because of this discipline. In Dakar, drivers usually do well at 27, 28, 29 or older. For example, Daniel Sanders, champion of the Dakar 2025, was crowned at the age of 30 and debuted at the age of 26. Edgar did it between 7 and 10 years earlier than usual. This means that no one can tell where your roof and your own caravan mate are, The new Dakar champion, Daniel Sanders, was also surprised by the performance of the boy.
Sanders: “He has a big margin”
At the end of stage 9, MD came to the finish line to talk to Sanders and ask about Edgar. Your answers say it all.
“He’s having a good Dakar and he just arrived. He’s had a good race so far, a couple of good stages, so we’ll see how he goes here in the dunes, as he’s just survived his first day in the dunes. But he is in a very good place”he pointed out. And Canet did not disappoint in the following days either.
“Do you see Edgar fighting for the Tuareg championship next year?”MD asked the man who would become Dakar motorcycle champion a few days later. “Yes, he can,” he admitted. “He will get experience and we will see what happens. It will be interesting to see. “He’s still young and he needs to get a lot of experience, so we’ll see how it goes.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this, anyone so young, except in Mason Klein’s case. Edgar has many years ahead of him with much to learn and great room for improvement. “It will be interesting to see it,” he concluded before helping her regain strength and rest.
Canet’s response to Sanders
Immediately afterwards, MD conveyed those words to Edgar with the same intent. Sanders believes that Edgar can fight for the title in 2026, in his second Dakar and at only 20 years old. Canet responded with humility and feet on the ground. Example of his organized head despite his youth.
“Well, what I see is that he is very strong,” he said with a laugh. “If I can be with him next year, it means we’ve done an amazing job“, he added. But he bets on patience and highlights the work that must be done to be at the level of Daniel and company: “But I think they are two steps ahead. They have a wonderful rhythm and rhythm of sailing. Yes, I can have that rhythm, but having all the stages in that rhythm is something difficult, so we will learn and improve. Let’s see, if I can do a lot of training with Sanders throughout the year, it will definitely be good.”.
He learned from the champion, his caravan companion
Exactly, sharing a caravan with the champion Sanders is one of the points that will also help him grow.
“The ability to adapt to his routine, knowing how he does things, how he prepares it for the next day, is something that teaches you. Copy something from him? Yes, everything . If I can copy everything from him and thus become an outstanding leader in the final stage, if I can do it when I can…”, he declared to the Spanish newspaper when he was in Dakar that , a few days before the end, gave advice to him not to want. too dangerous: “He told me that he controls the title of Rally 2 and not to do anything crazy, “We just have to finish.” And Edgar finished the job.
The youngest in history already knows what to improve
Edgar made his Dakar debut this January as the youngest official factory rider in history, with KTMwho did not want to allow him to escape when he saw how he finished the raids, how hard he worked to have the chance to go to Dakar in any way, regardless of his extraordinary talent and technique and the mind of a veteran.
And in the race, even though the Austrian firm didn’t ask for any results, he nailed it. He only remembers one clear error in the roadbook and it was at the point where the roadmap was wrong, something that affected the other drivers in stage 1. And he only had one scare despite his great speed, in between the best, on stage 6, a fall that also served as a learning experience, to learn how to calm down on the bike when he thought he had broken his wrist before pushing again after the link when he saw it was still intact.
He learned like a sponge and saw where he had to improve throughout the year to take another step to Dakar 2026 where he continues to believe that his goal should only be to continue learning and reach the end. He doesn’t want to put more pressure on himself, aware that he is still in the learning phase.
“The next Dakar? “Keep learning, keep enjoying what I’m doing and I’m sure it will be good,” Edgar pointed out after a stage 8 where he said he accumulated kilometers that are very important for his future so that he can ride close to Tosha Schareina and Daniel Sanders and thus understand their riding and see if he can keep up with their pace . He did it, but his tongue was hanging out because of the many kilometers where Tosha and Daniel accelerated at maximum speed.
“What should I improve for Dakar 2026? Motorcycle time. I think it’s been a while since I’ve spent a lot of time on the bike, it’s something I haven’t trained for. I think I did a maximum of five hours on the motorcycle and here we are doing stages of six hours, seven. Today there were five, but we’ve been hard, doing a lot of time on the bike, I think that’s what I have to improve for next year, and a little sailing,” he pointed out honestly.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
