Interview: Queen of the Sanz
By Team TMX on 16th Dec 15
The undisputed queen of womens trials has left her incredible 13 FIM World Titles behind her to become the new dame of the desert following her incredible performance in the 2015 Dakar Rally.
Spain's first lady Laia Sanz, who also netted three enduro world crowns during her short foray in that discipline, is a woman like no other and has become a national heroine in her native Spain in more recent years.
A born winner, a gifted girl – but who is the real woman behind the goggles?
TMX: You have ridden bikes from an early age. As their only daughter how has that affected the relationship you have had with your parents over the years?
LS: I am so happy that my father introduced me to the sport of trials, they could have taught me to play tennis but I am glad that was not the case.
In fact I need to thank both my father and my mum for all their support over so many years. I am happy to say that I was and still am very close to both of my parents. Of course I spent a lot of time with my dad training, travelling and being at the competitions.
Most of the time it was just me and my dad travelling alone but when the event was in a nice place like Andorra or Majorca my mum liked to come to those competitions too.
Also she always made sure she was there at the most important events like the World Championship Trials. It was not possible for her to come everywhere, as I have an older brother, who she had to take care of also.
Even today, although I live away and have my own life, I still speak to my mum and father almost every day. Now my father does not come to the races, as he is both tired from all the travelling he did with me when I was younger, and also he is not really a fan of enduro or rally.
The most important thing is both my parents are still there for me, just in the background ready to give me some advice whenever I need it.
Dad was the same when I was younger, he never pushed me or put pressure on me and I have to thank him a lot for that. Now it's a little different as he is a little afraid of me riding enduro and especially rally, as he knows it can be dangerous.
That's one of the reasons they stay away from these events.
Now during the Dakar they don't sleep at all, so they really suffer a lot from what I am doing, much more than before when I was only riding trials.
Away from racing I still have what I call a normal relationship with my mum. We go for dinner together, go to the cinema and sometimes we find time to go shopping too. The problem is that I don't have a lot of free time but whenever we can we try to visit each other. When she comes to my house she brings food that she puts in my freezer to make sure that she still takes good care of me like any normal mum.
TMX: How difficult was it as a girl, one of only a few riding trials back in the early days and how it is today as a woman in a man's world?
LS: You have to remember that women's trials did not exist when I started riding, so it was normal for me to train and ride with the boys.
They were okay with me, but of course as a girl in their world it was both different and difficult at times. For sure things have got better over the years as more girls are now riding, but still today it is not easy for me as a woman to be inside this sport.
In my early years I was very focused on my riding so in some ways I was different to other girls of my age as an early teenager.
My friends were going to parties and having boyfriends but my only interest at that time was my riding.
It wasn't until I was 18 or 19 that I started to go out with friends and go to parties, so I was a late developer compared to my friends.
And then I found that the boys acted different to me than to my friends. They only knew me from the events where I was very serious and focused, so many of them did not know me that well but those that did know, I was just like a normal girl when I was at the party.I just wanted to relax and to have fun.
TMX: Tell us how it felt to grow from a small girl to a princess and to finally become the true Queen of Women's Trials?
LS: I simply could not have imagined that this would happen to me. As I said before women's trials did not even exist when I started, so it never really seemed possible.
For me to have the chance to ride inside a professional team and for this to be my job was like my best dream come true.
It was both nice and amazing. I will never forget that it was what I did inside trials that gave me my chance to race at the Dakar. I spent 20-years in trials so it will always be a big part of my history.
Of course I can remember the day I won my first world title. It was a special day and I was very happy, but also I was very young and at that moment did not fully understand just what I had achieved.
It is only when I became older that I really was able to understand the real value of that day and just how important that first championship actually was.
TMX: How difficult was it to turn your back on trial and to let someone else steal your crown – a crown that you had won 13 times?
LS: It was incredibly difficult because trials is the sport I love the most, but on the other hand I also knew that I needed a new goal and challenge.
I had been riding trials for many years with the same people and same opportunities. The other motivation was it has always been my goal to be competitive riding against men, and in trial I felt I had reached my top level and was unable to go any further with this goal.
My motivation was starting to fade, as I felt that I could keep winning the women's trials world title, not easily as there are now many young girls coming who are very strong but I knew I needed a new challenge.
Seeing Emma Bristow winning the trials title last year was okay, as it's life, things change and need to change.
In one moment when Dougie Lampkin was winning all the time nobody imagined he would ever be beaten but now the sport has Toni Bou and we are in a new era which is the same for me. It was never going to be easy for me to leave trials, as I would have loved to stay inside the sport I love so much, but to be better in enduro and rally I knew I had to focus more on them.
TMX: It's true to say that you have adapted well to enduro and then to rally but does it give you the same feeling and satisfaction that you had with trials?
LS: I have so many great memories of trials because I spent so many years riding this sport and if I am really honest I still prefer trial the most. However, I still like enduro and it has been good to switcgh to this sport to teach me new techniques and to give me the speed I needed to transfer across to rally and, more important, for the Dakar.
TMX: Did you ever dream that you would perform so well at Dakar last year to become the highest place woman ever in this tough and incredible race?
LS: Again to be honest I could have never imagined this as when I first rode Dakar back in 2010 I finished 39th and was just so happy to finish and be the best woman in the race.
That was simply amazing, not lucky, as each day I was inside the top 15 or top 20 and was strong throughout the race.
This was the first time I was able to prepare like the other top riders, as before I only got to test the bike just before the start of Dakar.
But this time I had a rally bike from the summer, spent one month in Morocco and did two rallies before Dakar to prepare in the right way.
Also to be inside a factory team was a big help. In the end it was the complete and overall package that helped me improve so much.
TMX: Now you have a boyfriend – 40-year-old Pedro Bianchi Prata – in the same sport as youself. Does that make the relationship easier – as it can't be easy for any man to share their life with such a strong woman as youself?
LS: It's easier as he understands what I do, that I spend a lot of time with many other men, that I am a professional sportsperson who is very focused and that does not have a lot of free time to go on long holidays perhaps like more normal girls. He does the same sport as me, so he understands everything.
TMX: What does the future hold for you?
LS: You never know as so much depends on results in the world of sport. Right now I want to continue riding, but in the future I would like to have a family of my own.
I am only 29-years-old which is young for Dakar, so hopefully I have some more years to improve – first on the bike and then in the future I would like to do this event in a car too.
We will have to see as three-years ago I could not have dreamed that I would be where I am today.
And then there is always trials, it will always be there. I know I can't ride at a good level in trial without too much training and last year I never had time to do that. Right now I would like to have trials in my life again.
As for children, it is difficult as a professional female sportsperson to be a mother so that will have to wait for the moment.
But in the future if I have a son or a daughter I will try to do the same as my parents did with me.
Not to push them or put pressure on them but to support them and help them follow their dream, like I have been so lucky to do in my life.
