The story of Adam Raga, 16 years in a row as runner-up behind Toni Bou: "It's unfair"

Another year the same, another World Cup the same, another photo the same.

In the center, on the podium, celebrates

, king of trial, in a streak of 30 consecutive titles between indoor and outdoor.

And to his right, in second place,

, eternal contender, consoles himself.

Since 2007 there have been no changes: one, always champion;

the other, always runner-up.

They started when they were in their twenties and so they continue, on the verge of 40, of withdrawal.

Bou's life is supposed to be happy, from victory to victory, but... And Raga's life?

He answers: "I always win because I still have a great time training. The only thing that has changed is that now there are days when everything hurts. As anyone can imagine, my motivation is to beat Toni, to beat him in the next race. It's not that I think about him every day, but I pay close attention to what he does and try to improve where he makes the difference. I've never competed to finish second, although I can't deny that there has come a time when I have ridden well, I am satisfied".

Trial is a somewhat strange sport.

It consists of overcoming obstacles, natural or artificial, on a specific route making as few mistakes as possible.

All by motorcycle, of course.

Popular in Spain and the United Kingdom in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it is now in a certain decline, has the laws of several countries against it and has been reduced to some areas of Catalonia.

In fact, less than 10,000 trial bikes are sold each year worldwide.

For all these reasons, fewer and fewer young people are interested.

For all this, and for their own talent and work, the Bou-Raga duo remains intact.

But... Why always in the same order?

Raga saves his explanation: "Toni is an incredible rider and I don't like excuses, but for years the system has been unfair. He competes with a four-stroke motorcycle, the Honda one, I with a two-stroke motorcycle and there are a lot of difference in terms of power. Also lately he decides the areas in which he competes and, as for technique and bike he climbs higher than the others, he always increases the difficulty. There should be more variety. It's as if a MotoGP rider raced with a completely different bike and decide the circuit in which it races".

Two years of success

Raga began following in his father's footsteps from a very young age, so much so that he has a video on YouTube riding a motorcycle before he was three years old.

At six he was already competing, shortly after he was already training with

.

And at 23, in 2005, he dethroned the Englishman

, and became world champion for the first time, both indoors and outdoors.

He would repeat the double the following year, but in 2007 Bou appeared and the then new four-stroke Honda.

That's where he stopped winning.

Although he had his moments: "In 2005 and 2006 I thought I would be the king of the mambo. I had beaten Lampkin, who had been everything, wanted to win for many years. But then... In 2013 and 2014 I was very close to beating Toni, in fact, the first year I lost to him on the last lap of the last test. Then came the bankruptcy of my GasGas brand and in the current one, TRS, I have managed to be competitive, but it is more difficult. If there had been a factory able to fight with Honda, to develop a good four-stroke bike, I don't know what would have happened".

This year, the Indoor World Cup, which a few days ago passed through the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, ​​is practically decided in favor of Bou again.

He has won all four races with Raga in second position in three of them.

Only an injury would leave him without his 31st consecutive title, as it will very possibly happen with number 32 in the Outdoor World Championship that will start next month.

Everything remains the same, therefore, in the trial and it will continue like this for a while, since neither one nor the other seem to want retirement.

Raga doesn't even think about it: "I didn't expect to reach 40, trial is a more physical sport than MotoGP or Formula 1, but now I don't see myself retired. Trial is small, but you can make a living from it and the atmosphere is nice. With Toni, in fact, I have a pretty good relationship, although most of the time I have to do the complicated part. Keeping a good mood when you lose is more difficult than doing it when you win".

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