13-Time Trials Champion Laia Sanz Rejoins TrialsGP Series For 2021

She's rejoining the Enduro World Championship, too.

By: Janaki Jitchotvisut

May 25, 2021 at 10:35am ET

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Where do you begin to describe the career heights of Laia Sanz? Over the course of her World Trials Championship career, she’s won 13 titles out of a total of 14 seasons of competition since 2000. If that’s not exciting enough, she also took 10 European titles and six Spanish national trials titles during that time, as well. In 2010, she set her sights on a new challenge in enduro, and went on to take four more titles in that discipline. She’s also taken four X-Games gold medals and one silver. Sanz + technical riding = serious business.

After 2017, Sanz decided to focus all her energies on competing in Dakar, which she’s done for the past handful of years. However, as 2021 dawned, she ultimately made the decision to head back to the FIM Women’s Trial World Championship and Enduro World Championship for the new year. For TrialsGP, she’ll be competing on a GasGas TXT GP 300.

“I’m so happy about competing in trial again! It’s something I would have liked to have done last year, and we had everything ready, but one week before the first TrialGP round I contracted Lyme disease, which forced me off the bike for a while,” Sanz said in a statement.

“I’ve wanted to come back to trial for a long time now. I have always loved trial and to have the possibility to return with GASGAS, it’s just perfect. Albert, our team manager, is a great guy and a great rider, so I know he’ll be able to help me a lot. The bike works so, so well, so rather than testing I’ve been able to focus on regaining the skills needed to compete at the highest level, and I feel like I am getting there now,” she continued.

“Eight years have gone by since my last TrialGP season, so obviously I have lost some of my ability, but I feel good and I’m getting more and more comfortable with the bike each day. Outside of TrialGP, being appointed as a GASGAS Brand Ambassador is huge for me. We began our journey together last year so to continue with the brand and be more hands on with all the bikes is really important. Not only are they really enjoyable to ride but they are great for training and who knows, maybe I’ll compete in some one-off races for fun,” Sanz concluded.

The first event in the 2021 TrialsGP season takes place in Italy on June 11, 2021. We look forward to seeing how Sanz fares as she finds her feet in the sport in 2021.

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