The training behind this started about five years ago. The same schedule, the same track, over and over, with braking drills before every attempt.
From outside it looks like repetition. From inside it is the work — on the saddle and off it, through the injuries, the diet and the sleep. It is a process that takes everything.
Cross-country rallying demands years of it before the first start line, and navigation matters more than speed once the road disappears. The rider who lines up in Qatar is not the one who started.
