On The Pegs January 2019 - Volume 4 - Issue 1 | Page 114

On The Pegs
P 114
dunes and it’s going to be a real challenge, certainly no time to relax. In the past
there have been days where you can pace yourself and still get a good result by
concentrating on navigation and riding smooth – on this one I think it’s going to
be flat-out from the very beginning.”
Forced to retire from the 2018 Dakar due to injury, Sam Sunderland was soon
back on a bike and fighting for the win at the first round of the world champion-
ship in Abu Dhabi. As the season moved on to Chile, Sam was again battling for
victory when a further injury caused him to miss the next few races. Regrouping
for the final round in Morocco, and despite a tyre issue causing him to lose time
early on, the Brit’s pace was impressive in the sand with Sam taking a stage win.
Pleased with his speed on the bike, Sunderland has also been working on his
overall fitness for what looks to be one of the most intense Dakar Rallies to date.
“As we get closer to Dakar now, I’m feeling really good,” says Sunderland. “I’m
happy with how I am riding and confident in my navigation. I know this year in
Peru it’s going to be very physically demanding, so I have been working very
hard on my training to be in the best shape when the race starts in January. It’s
definitely good for me that we have 10 days in the dunes. I love riding that sort of
terrain and seem to have good pace there. Whether it will fall in my favour I don’t
know. Anything can happen in rallies as we know and you can’t predict a race like
Dakar. This year I did have a six-minute lead after Peru so that is encouraging, but
the plan is the usual – take each day as it comes.”