Toni Bou - X-Trial Champion!
"It is a great moment for me because I surpassed one of my idols"
The Repsol rider, at only 26-year-old, already shows in his track record a total of 13 Trial World Championship titles –7 X-Trial and 6 Outdoor–.
The most successful rider in history. That is Toni Bou’s title since last weekend. The victory achieved last Saturday in Bielefeld (Germany) allowed him to secure the indoor World Championship for the seventh consecutive time. With this new success, the Repsol rider has 13 World Championships under his belt, a feat no other rider in history had achieved before.
With this thirteenth title, now you can say you are the most successful rider in history. How do you feel?
“For me is a really great happiness to have won so many World Championships. When you win a title, the first feeling is always strange, then you start to slowly feel the happiness and enjoy it more and more during the weekend. This is amazing, I’m very happy, this was one of my aims for this season."
On Saturday you won your seventh outdoor World Championship, does this title have the same value as the last six?
“This last World Championship is very important for me. The first is, of course, very special, but after that one, I think this seventh title is the most important, because it is a historical record. It is amazing because I was able to surpass some riders that were my idols. It is a great moment for me.”
During these four X-Trial World Championship rounds there were areas that only you were able to finish. How do you explain that?
“The daily work is very important. Apart from that we worked a lot to have the best bike and we have it, so I must thank the team for that.”
At Sheffield you won for just 1 point over the second, but in Malaga they were 21 points, in Barcelona 14 and in Bielefeld, 12. You also have 20 consecutive wins in this series. Did you really suffer to win those rounds?
“Especially in Sheffield the start was very difficult, as Albert Cabestany pushed until the end, until the very last zone. It is true that I achieved a bit more than my rivals, but with the new rules, –qualifying, semi-final and final– everything is very fast and it seems you can lose the win at any moment. Then you see the points and there is some advantage, but is always dangerous.”
It is more or less easy to imagine how a rider trains for the Outdoor Trial, but in this case, how do you train for these series?
“Usually riders try to have a place used for this discipline near our residence. We try to change zones a bit, because the indoor trial is the speciality that has evolved the most in the last years.”
Is it true that a great base for your training is the biketrial? Why?
“Yes, especially for the indoor. It is a discipline where we work a lot with the bicycle because it is amazing how it has evolved and the motorcycle is always behind.”
What is more important: the technique, the bike, concentration or physical work? What are the key reasons for your sporting success?
“Concentration is really important, although before you need to do specific physical work and that’s key with the bike. In the indoor rounds we had a lot of novelties in the last years, with very high walls. You need a very consistent bike to control and pass the stones on one wheel and then enough power to climb high walls.”
Do you dedicate this seventh X-Trial World Championship to anyone in particular?
“As always, I dedicate it to the people that support me: my family, my girlfriend, my friends and, above all, my team. They worked a lot and they always help me”.