“This year, I’ll see you at the finish line!”
RIDER FACTS
- Iader Giraldi, passionate about off-road riding since the age of 12, started his Dakar journey with the 2021 Road to Dakar and the Andalucia Rally, focusing on mindfulness and stress management.
- He created a platform called Dealing with the Unexpected to share his Dakar experience and wrote the book “I Must Do the Dakar”.
- For 2024, he prepared by taking mechanics lessons and he made another step for 2025 by working on his physical strength and flexibility, and training extensively in Africa.
- For his 3rd Dakar, he will race again in the Original by Motul category on a KTM, aiming to finish and demonstrate resilience and endurance without assistance.
AMBITION 2025
“My 2024 Dakar was a disaster; I retired on the second stage due to an accident. Unfortunately, I arrived at the start right after an eye surgery, and my physical condition was not ideal. To finish a Dakar, as I did in my first edition in 2023, you need to be in perfect condition. However, the experience was useful in adapting my training approach. I focused heavily on my body, improving both strength and flexibility, and spent significant time training in the desert. This was made possible in part by the training school I founded after the success of my book. I have never spent as many weeks in Africa on a motorbike as I did this year. I will race in Original by Motul category, where my goal is to finish. As always, I will race with my KTM Rally Replica, prepared by my Celestini Racing Team. Together, we are also working on other racing and training projects. Over the past few years, I have built a strong network of partners where training and competition are part of one process: pushing limits, studying performance, and providing training opportunities for other rookie drivers. Long live the Dakar, long live challenges, and this year, I’ll see you at the finish line!”
