Laia Sanz 2020 WAS THE WORST TIME OF MY LIFE

Laia Sanz is certainly one of the most important sportswoman in women’s motorcycling in recent years. The Spanish rider has won 14 women’s World Trial Championships, 10 European Women’s Trial Championships, 7 Women’s Nations Trials, 6 women’s Enduro World Championships and has participated 11 times in the Dakar on a motorbike (9th as a best result). In this exclusive interview for MissBiker, we discover more about her career, her toughest moments and the next Dakar, this time on 4 wheels!

HI LAIA, THANK YOU FOR ACCEPTING OUR INTERVIEW. IN A FEW DAYS YOU WILL LEAVE FOR THE DAKAR BUT THIS YEAR YOU WILL COMPETE IN A CAR AND NOT ON A MOTORCYCLE. WHY DID YOU MAKE THIS DECISION?
After 11 years of Dakar on a motorcycle, I needed something new, new motivation. In this competition I have done much more than I dreamed of in terms of results, getting to the top 15 several times. But it’s also age that makes you consider more risk. In the last two years of Dakar in Saudi Arabia, the races were very fast and it had become more of a matter of those who wanted to take more risks and I didn’t like it so much. I wasn’t having fun like in South America, for example.There were many things that led me to make this decision.

IS IT A DEFINITIVE CHANGE OR WILL WE SEE YOU ON THE BIKE AGAIN?
You never know, but I’m not thinking about the Dakar because the level is now very high, you have to be very prepared.Besides, in the last two years I haven’t been well and it’s been hard because of that too. In enduro and trial, yes, because they are less dangerous sports, but in the Dakar I really think I won’t get back on a motorcycle.

AT THE LAST DAKAR, YOU STILL FINISHED 17TH EVEN THOUGH YOU WEREN’T WELL. HOW DID YOU EXPERIENCE THOSE MOMENTS AND ABOVE ALL HOW DID YOU OVERCOME THEM?
2020 was the worst time of my life. Not only in terms of sport but also of life, because when I was really sick I no longer worried about sport but about returning to a normal life. I didn’t even have the energy to get off the couch. For someone like me, who is used to always training, to having so much energy, feeling so sick was hard. A very bad time.

DO YOU THINK THAT WHAT YOU LEARNT DURING YOUR MOTORCYCLE CAREER CAN ALSO HELP YOU IN CARS?
For sure. Obviously everything is completely different, there are two extra wheels, I have to learn to drive, to listen to the co-driver but it certainly helps. The experience with the race, knowing a little bit about what you’ll find, even reading the terrain a bit.

WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERISTICS THAT MAKE THE DIFFERENCE IN IMPORTANT RACES?
You have to work a lot. I have come this far because I have worked hard. My luck is to be 1.80 cm tall and to have always been big and strong. My body helped me but I’ve always worked a lot.

THIS YEAR YOU WERE ABLE TO WIN 3 WORLD GOLD MEDALS IN TWO DIFFERENT DISCIPLINES. WHERE DID YOU FIND IT MOST DIFFICULT AFTER MANY YEARS WITHOUT COMPETING: ENDURO OR TRIAL?
In enduro, even though I haven’t done the World Championship since 2017, it was easier. To prepare for the Dakar I did a bit of cross, a bit of enduro, and even though I wasn’t competing, I liked to train. I have never completely stopped with enduro.With the trial it was more difficult. The last World Championship I had done was in 2013 and after so many years it was more difficult to return to trial.

IN AN INTERVIEW A FEW YEARS AGO, YOU SAID THAT SOME MALE DRIVERS ARE BOTHERED BY THE FACT THAT A WOMAN CAN WIN. DO YOU THINK ANYTHING HAS CHANGED IN RECENT YEARS?
I think we’re still bothering them. I remember that at the Dakar when I finished 9th in the overall classification there were riders who said that I had the official bike. Yes, but there were 30 riders with official motorcycles. I didn’t have an advantage for that. Then many at the end of the day looked at the table to see if they had arrived ahead or behind me. In the end, however, for me it is an additional motivation because I want to push even more and leave them behind.

SO YOU THINK A WOMAN SHOULD PROVE MORE THAN A MAN IN MOTORSPORT?
Unfortunately always!

IN YOUR OPINION, IF THERE WERE MORE WOMEN IN MOTORSPORT, WOULD ANYTHING CHANGE?
I think so. But even if it takes time, we are on the right track. When I started riding motorcycles, I was 5-6 years old, in trial races it was a very strange thing to see a woman, even the comments were sometimes ugly. Now the fact that women ride motorcycles, that they race has become normal, so I think the situation will improve even more in the future.

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH LAIA SANZ