Dakar: Prince Al-Attiyah's plan against punctures: leader after the prologue stage
At
58 years old
, many Spaniards begin to balance their accounts in search of the long-awaited
pre
-
retirement
plan
.
At the same age,
Tom Cruise or Jim Carrey
claim leading roles that no longer convince the industry, while
Axl Rose or Jon Bon Jovi
nostalgically look back on their times on the charts.
At 58 years of age, when no athlete appears among the elite,
Carlos Sainz
only thinks about winning the
Dakar Rally
for the fourth time
, which started this Saturday in
Jeddah
with a short prologue that established the starting order.
Ahead, until Friday 15th, 12 more stages, with 7,517 kilometers, 4,754 of them timed.
More than 40 hours without truce through the desert of Saudi Arabia
.
A challenge for which Sainz has been preparing since last February, with daily double sessions and 100-kilometer
mountain bike
tours
.
"
Don't think about age, think about winning
."
That is the phrase that Sainz repeats among his circle of confidence, without a hint of complacency, not even after the joy, last September, of
the Princess of Asturias Award
, whose news he received while training.
Only with such ambition has he been able to maintain his physical level in these times marked by the restrictions of the pandemic.
During the forced break in the spring he had to settle for the gym at his Madrid home.
Muscle maintenance sessions combined with an exercise bike.
Later, when he was finally able to put himself in the hands of Tito Maúna, his trusted coach, he applied himself with rigorous discipline.
"
Some days he got up at five in the morning
. His passion was contagious," says Maúna in conversation with EL MUNDO.
The wounds of war
Sainz often insists that he doesn't need a lot of psychological work and that his formula for success sticks to a
love of driving
.
However, even sheer talent is not enough to tackle the immensity of the famous Empty Quarter in the Saudi desert, where the head-to-head will take place against
Nasser Al-Attiyah
, its main antagonist and
Toyota
leader
.
"Our plan emphasized the long stages, in which you cannot falter and where you need a very good resistance," says Maúna, with the last two days highlighted on the agenda: the eleventh, ending in Yanbu, has a special of 511 km and the final, at the Jeddah finish line, will be resolved in 225 km against the clock.
David Castera
, race director, wanted to favor navigation at the expense of speed, but it seems that this Dakar will be decided again in a narrow time frame.
Any previous distraction, even if it takes just five minutes, will be very difficult to recover.
"
Young people can stop training, but Carlos cannot
. He cannot allow himself fatigue, not even on the last day," the Argentine develops, aware of the ailments of a veteran with two herniated discs in his back,
an operated shoulder and irrecoverable ailments in the menisci.
War wounds typical of who follows, three decades later, at the highest level.
Despite the limitations, Sainz intensified his program since September.
On Mondays and Wednesdays, halfway between a gym in the center of Madrid and another in La Finca, he played specific strength work on his legs and arms.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, 85 kilometers of bicycle, which increased to 100 during the weekend.
For Friday, strengthening the neck, one of the most exposed areas on the dunes and broken roads.
The Dakar, the most demanding race in the world, punishes any carelessness with abandonment.
The importance of heart rate
The idea was to minimize errors, so the biggest workload came in November, with more bike ports and fewer strength exercises.
The cardiac threshold rose to 170 beats per minute
.
At the wheel, the sensations in the Rally of Andalusia were very good.
"If you are tired you will hesitate in the decisive sections and you will fall into a mousetrap. You have to arrive prepared for those moments, where your heart rate will shoot up," predicts Maúna.
The two stress tests, conducted in September and late December, yielded optimal results.
Fernando Alonso
, 19 years younger, tends to joke about his friend's amazing resistance to time.
Over the past few weeks, Sainz has devoted himself to every detail of his buggy, developed by X-Raid engineers.
A two-wheel drive vehicle, 350 hp of power and capable of rolling at 190 km / h on the fastest tracks in the desert.
It will be his third
Dakar with Mini
, again with Lucas Cruz as co-driver.
After leaving behind the initial problems with the set-up, Carlos has the speed to repeat his victory, a feat only available to
Stephane Peterhansel
for the last 15 editions.
The previous baggage, with 11 victories in 35 stages, invites optimism.
Not even the discomforts of the bubble against Covid-19, with charter flights or constant
PCR
tests
, seem to make a dent.
And as if that were not enough, despite the traditional resistance of Reyes, his wife, few doubt the presence of
El Matador
in the Dakar 2022.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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