a decade to develop. The only riders they
couldn’t out psyche were each other.
When Price raced from seventh start position
to win Stage Five it was almost to be expected;
his riding talent was obvious from his fi rst
cross-country event in Morocco in 2014. Now
he was working on strategy. But when he led
out on Stage Six and won it his status rose into
the space once reserved for the likes of Neveu,
Orioli, Sainct, Despres and Coma; and headed
towards Peterhansel territory.
Toby repeated the feat on Stage Nine. “They
were two days I’m very proud of. It demonstrated
I could do the job alone; taking absolutely no
notice of any other riders. When I returned to the
bivouac I could tell the team was as pumped as
I was. Of course going on to win Dakar was the
greatest but I doubt I’ll ever be more satisfi ed
than when I fi nished Stage Six.”
KICK IN THE GUTS
Toby came off the rest day like a cut snake,
taking the overall lead with a dominating
performance in Stage Eight. This put him fi rst
out the following day, providing the perfect
opportunity to break the opposition. “I got to
the fi nish dehydrated and the bike was cooking
after a section of dunes and shit country in 47
degree temperatures.
“Then I learnt just about everyone was back
at the second control point [where the stage
was cancelled] enjoying a cool drink.” Toby may
have been near boilover but on TV he remained
cool, calm and collected, telling the press: “It’s
been a good day. I can’t complain. It’s a bit of a
shame I get to the fi nish to fi nd out they’ve
cancelled the stage. A bit of a bummer for me.”
But Toby was still processing the
implications. “It was a real kick in the guts butyou can’t lose your cool and you’ve got to be
sensible about what you say on TV. I can tell
you I was biting my tongue and, as soon as that
camera was turned off and I could shirt-front
an official, the words changed a bit. What
annoyed me the most was that I was doing my
job properly and made a heap of time on
everyone on that stage. Yet the way it went
down was that I’d actually been penalised and
everyone else had been given an advantage.
Yeah, a real kick in the guts.”THE FINISHING TOUCHES
With two days to go, much of it over liaison
stages (with the ever present threat of errant
spectators and wildlife) Toby had a seemingly
unsurmountable lead. Teammate Antoine Meo,
with whom Toby had shared digs for the event,
was first out. But KTM was taking no chancesIt demonstrated I could do the job alone; taking
absolutely no notice of any other riders
12
- Teammates Viladoms and Price
- Unlike the A4DE, someone else
changes your tyres in the bivouac
Toby Price
http://www.adbmag.com.au APRIL 2016 | 95