Julien Lieber - Return of the forgotten man
By Alex Hodgkinson on 5th Apr 17
The factory teams forgot 2015 MX2 world No.6 Julien Lieber when he disappeared from the scene throughout 2016.But the 22-year-old Belgian has returned emphatically this year, winning the opening race of the season in Sardinia in his first race in 18 months and taking the MX2 red plate to Patagonia.
TMX: So where have you been for the last 18 months?
Lieber: In 2015 I suffered all season with my hips. I already had pain on Friday in Qatar, and then I crashed in Thailand and it started to get worse. During the season I had quite a lot of medication to take away the pain on both sides, though the left was the worst.
At the end of the season I did some tests and I knew that I had to have surgery on each side. At first they only cleaned up the muscles and the cartilage, but as soon as I started to train again in January the pain returned.
I only rode two times before I had further tests in France and they discovered that I'd had the problem with my bones since I was born. They cleaned the bones again and I had surgery four times.
I lost five months with all of that; the season was almost over and I decided it was better to rest for the remainder of the season, to be sure for 2017, than to try a comeback for two races.
TMX: 2017 is your last chance to race MX2; was it a calculated gamble?
Lieber: I had to put all my eggs in one basket and concentrate on getting ready for this year. It was not a gamble; it was the only option.
I had been sixth in 2015 despite the pain, but I knew it would not get better if I tried to race 2016; for sure my results would not have been good enough to keep my team place. I simply had to take a year out to make everything ready for this one last chance.
It wasn't just the pain; I would have done more damage if I had continued and that would have affected me for the rest of my life. I had already left it too long. The cartilage on the left side was already so badly damaged, and I might never have recovered from that. My right side is now 100 per cent, but I still have to recover strength on the left.
TMX: You are racing in your own private family team this year.
Lieber: Nobody wanted me any more. I was a little disappointed but I understand; that is our sport and you can soon be forgotten. Nobody wanted to take the risk after one year out, so we made the best out of it and created our own private family team.
But I think we can be happy how it goes now, and we can do everything the way we want to. We chose KTM because we wanted the best bike, and when we contacted them they could offer us some help. It was the easiest option to make results. We start with a standard bike but we have factory WP suspension.
TMX: What is the team structure?
Lieber: Most of the finance comes from the family construction business – my parents and myself, but we also have some loyal sponsors who help us.We will be working out of the family mobile home in Europe, and all of the family are involved.
We are a close family; my brother Cedric is always there for me – he was also a good rider but he had to stop after he had problems with his knee – my younger sister is taking care of the social part, and my elder sister takes care of the logistics.
TMX: Was it difficult to find your rhythm again after a year out?
Lieber: I started riding again in October, but the first month I took it really easy. I was happy that I had the feeling for riding again straight away. I have a lot of experience now and I knew how to progress gradually on my return.
Yves Demaria is working with me full-time now. We had already worked together at Yamaha while he was with Valentin (Guillod) but now he is with me full-time.
I had to believe in myself, and everybody around me too, or I could not have found the strength to put in so much effort. Not many people still believed in me, so I had to believe in myself.
I knew from my training in the winter that my speed was still good even though I was a little bit scared to have too much stress after one whole year off, but I already won the first race of the year in Sardinia.
From day one I felt more comfortable on the bike again, the main thing I had to build was the physical confidence. I had to work a lot on that, but the technical aspect was still there.
TMX: Can you keep it going on all surfaces?
Lieber: I think I can race with the factory riders on all types of tracks. We already had races on hard pack and mud, now a little bit sandy. I already finished top three in Lommel so I am not worried about my form in the deep sand. We will see.
I had a factory bike in 2015, and I feel the bike we have now is just as good.I have had the red plate, now I need to win my first GP and motos, but I am confident that will come.
TMX: And 2018?
Lieber: I really don't know yet what will happen next year. Everything is open, but I would normally expect to go to MXGP.
But first I have to focus on this year; this is our last chance in MX2 and we want to take it.
