Adrien van Beveren: “They are all my mates … but I'd like to beat them all”

November 12 ^th 2018 - 15:02

It has been a long time since the days when the ‘‘sand-racing wunderkind” sheepishly repeated at length in interviews that he would participate in the Dakar “above all to learn”. The 2018 edition was a good example. And paradoxically, it was in the aftermath of his spectacular retirement on stage 10 that Adrien van Beveren asserted with great confidence his stature as the man to beat in the motorcycle category. After finishing his maiden Dakar 6th overall, then a near podium result in 2017 (4th), the Yamaha rider talks about his unlimited determination and taste for sand less than two months before the start in Lima.

Adrien van Beveren, how did you handle your retirement on the last Dakar?
“I experienced every possible emotion that day. In the first section of the stage, I lost the provisional leadership of the Dakar, then I calmed down, I did my job and it paid off because I pulled away from everyone on the second portion. I knew that I had done a great job concerning the general classification. And then, just before the end of the stage, I hit a rock that I didn’t see and I was thrown off the bike. However, I wasn’t riding very fast, I wasn’t over riding. It was just wasn’t meant to be.”

How did you cope with the disappointment?
“It was very hard. My dream was within my reach and it faded away. Fortunately, I soon understood that I would recover physically from some broken ribs, a punctured lung and an injured shoulder. I never doubted for a second that I would come back to do the Dakar and I knew very early on it would be this year.”

How has your physical and mental recovery gone?
“I found it to be long, especially since the doctors did not want to operate on the clavicle at first and the healing was very slow. I was invited to take part in an asphalt rally in a car by PH Sport in mid-April, but as soon as they put the belts on, I knew the clavicle wasn’t strong enough. It was at that moment that I was operated on. In the meantime, I did a lot of cycling, which allowed me to work on what I needed to and I only got back on the bike in July. Now, I have no pain whatsoever and I ride just as fast as before.”

What positives have you drawn from this difficult period?
“First I quickly realized just how much I enjoy what I do. I had no doubts, but when you can’t do something, you feel it more. Then, although I found it all a bit long, I was impressed that I had that much patience and I got to know myself. I was also able to reorganize my working environment. I began to collaborate with Cyril Despres’ fitness coach, who, like many others, took a lot of time to help and encourage me.”

“Last year, I was leading the rally

leaving Peru. I love the dunes”

Were you happy with your return to competition, on the Desafío Inca (5th) then the Rally of Morocco (6th)?

“On the Desafío Inca, I didn’t go with the idea of winning the race. I still wasn’t totally fit. And in Morocco the field was very competitive, but I wasn’t sufficiently engaged to race for the win and I know it. It was somewhat dangerous: we rode on rough tracks and in river beds. It was an exercise for me, a springboard.”

However, you are now focusing on January and the dunes of Peru, your favourite terrain ...
“For sure, last year I was leading the rally leaving Peru. I love the dunes. I also hope that the navigation will be hard, that I get lost and that I find my way! Now, I am working on building up all the intensity that is needed in the rally and I will set off in very good conditions, and full of confidence.”

So, the only goal is victory!

“I know that I have everything it takes to win. The competition will be tough but I am not worried. If I had to define the style of my rivals, I think they are more aggressive than I am. Kevin Benavides for example, always looks like he is riding flat out, whereas I look for fluidity more than anything else. In any case, we get along very well and there is a lot of mutual respect. They are all my mates, but I want to beat them all.”