Edgar Canet, 20 years old, new leader of the motorcycle Dakar: “We had no idea what was happening. We continue to dream.”

“I didn’t expect everything that’s happening. The truth is that it’s two stage wins in a row (a prologue win and a stage one). For all the people who were saying, ‘No, this is just a prologue!’ Well, today I won too. But I don’t believe it. We are still the leaders of the Dakar. We are still dreaming.” Edgar Canet, who became the new leader of Dakar 2026 at the age of 20, said: The La Garriga native was overjoyed and could not believe what was happening to him. Although he had already won the 22km prologue, he said it would be impossible to repeat that feat in the 300km and 400km stages. And a day later he did it.

We are facing a rare and rare raid. Despite his lack of experience, he flew with extraordinary intelligence and mental strength and even knew how to remain calm and attentive during the most delicate moments of a very difficult stage with some stones in the delicate passage of a dry river. He recognized that many drivers struggle with tires and showed impressive maturity, knowing how to slow down, manage the pace and push when necessary. KTM Sport Director Jordi Villadomus was also surprised by the MD. “This wasn’t the plan.”He said with a laugh that he received the greatest gift from Kane on his 46th birthday: a stage win and overall leadership.

Ahead of his second Dakar appearance, Kane said it was not time to fight for wins yet, he just has to keep learning and that he probably doesn’t have the patience to perform at his best every day like Saunders, Shalayna and Brabec. He wasn’t involved in this fight, and he still isn’t, but he’s starting to understand that the press and the world see him as a candidate.

“I never said I didn’t have the speed. What I don’t think I have is the perseverance to arrive every day like this. Obviously, we’re going to try and we’re here to learn. I’m not in favor of fighting, but obviously as a leader it’s natural to say that,” he told the Spanish press at the bivouac, responding to a question from the MD.

“I can only say thank you to all the comments, all the people who sent me messages yesterday. I was not able to reply to everything. I am sorry, it was a difficult situation and I have to concentrate 100% on the race. From here on out I really appreciate everyone and I will continue,” he added, looking happy and very happy, in front of his father, who could not hide his great joy and pride after suffering a lot during the live broadcast of the race from the bivouac.

“The truth today is that for me a stage win means much more than winning the prologue. We are still in the race, that’s what matters and we are the leaders,” he added.

Edgar came to Dakar with a list of things to do. One of them was to test myself by opening the track in the learn stage and if I made a mistake I would understand it and train myself. Stage 2 will allow you to do that. You’ll be the first to leave, so you’ll have to give up your time.

Normally I would have given up the lead, but Villadomus, MD, asserted that in previous years in the region, those who opened tracks usually did not suffer heavy losses. Seems like the perfect strategy to avoid track opening in stage 3is very difficult to navigate. Canet’s plan seemed perfect, at least at first. And he will not take part in the battle, but will repeat several times what he wants “Keep dreaming.” What does that mean? “To continue to be a leader.”

In that sense, I couldn’t have asked for a better adventure partner for Stage 2. Directly behind him, three minutes away, is Dakar champion and KTM teammate Daniel Saunders.. If you make a navigational mistake, Daniel will catch you so you can continue learning from him.

Stage overview: There are a lot of stones so be careful

“The truth is that it was a very fast stage. There were some very fast rivers at the beginning and there was a bit of dust below so there was very little visibility, but it was a good navigation technique, not looking for your rival’s line but rather following your own line. Then we got to the stone area, which was actually very dangerous. A lot of people arrived with their tires at their limit, so I drove a little bit more carefully and things went well. So I’m very happy. ”

“Overall the stage was almost perfect as I did get lost in one place in terms of navigation. I was keeping an eye on when Saunders would arrive and whether I would let him go or let him fight with me until the end of the stage, but he never arrived and luckily he was very close to me in front of me. I was able to catch Luciano Benavidez and Ricky Brabec, who were setting a good pace, and I realized that I was setting a very good pace as well, because I was able to catch them and see them go. 100% meant I had a very good rhythm and from there I got to the end of the stage and was told that Ross Branch had been penalized for speeding. There’s nothing for me, we won the stage, we’re still leaders, we’re still dreaming, tomorrow it’s time to open the track, we know the Dakar is very, very difficult, so tomorrow we have to concentrate more than ever, but luckily Saunders came second. Either it’s a mistake or I don’t have the speed, Saunders will definitely arrive super fast, so we stay as focused as possible, it’s a little bit like reality that I’m the leader. ”

Have you ever wondered if you’re capable of the best speed? Already in the fight for a Dakar win?

“I’ve never said I didn’t have the speed. What I don’t think I have is the perseverance to arrive like this every day. Obviously, we’re going to try and we’re here to learn and if we open the track tomorrow and we make a mistake, we’ll learn from it. I’m competing against people who have a lot of Dakars, and that means a lot of experience. Obviously, it changes with every Dakar, but now it’s time to learn. Yes, we’re going to give ourselves.” It’s 100% natural, but don’t take any more risks than necessary. I didn’t push the bike any further than I know how to push it today. So I have to try the same way tomorrow. Navigation is going very well so far. Tomorrow will be very good as we need to open the course. Thunder starts from the back, so, well, I’m not going to fight, but it’s natural for me to say that as a leader.

Do you keep dreaming? What does it refer to?

“Well, it’s difficult to stay on top, but yesterday was already very difficult and today we did it, so I keep dreaming. Today I’m going to sleep believing that it’s a dream and I’m the happiest guy in the paddock… Obviously, no one is giving up on anything. All our rivals are pushing as hard as they can and we’ve already had some crashes, so they want us to make sure we’re on the bike all day, and rightly so.”Keep fighting, but use your head.

In stage 2 you can learn on open tracks, but in stage 3 you can avoid open tracks and navigation is difficult

“That’s right, well, stage 3 is still an unknown because we don’t know how we’re going to get out of the stage tomorrow, but we’ve got to be 100% tomorrow for the open and do the best we can to prepare well for stage 3. But it was so windy today that we couldn’t see the other pilots’ lines at all. So this is a plus point, if you open the track and there’s a lot of wind, eventually all the pilots do the same on the ground, then try to give your 100% and concentrate as much as possible, which is the most important thing when the course opens.

Sanders doesn’t like the terrain of these stages

“Well, I think in the end, when things go well, you’ll like everything a lot more. But it was a bit of a dangerous river with a lot of stones underneath. I think it was a little scary when we brought the helicopter up. So you’ll definitely be able to see it. And then there’s the rest because the stones are buried. I have to go more carefully, like trying not to get on the pilot’s wheel, and when I get into the line of other pilots, they stand out a little bit so I can’t see them, so sometimes I’ll open up the course a little bit to see exactly what’s on top of the terrain. I don’t know, but it was a little weird. These drastic changes of pace, suddenly the 160km course went on for 20km and there were 10km of stones that could not be passed at 50km/h. So it worked. These stones can break things on your bike, so you need to be careful. It is very dangerous to fall down there. So I’m feeling good and perfect for tomorrow. As for the bike, you don’t need to change anything. So it’s time to rest and prepare for tomorrow. The Dakar Rally has only just begun and whether you like it or not, I already know.

The clock was on if you could win one stage… now there are two

“I said it as a joke with Luciano[Benavides]but of course when I get home I have to give myself a souvenir. For example? I understand, but I don’t understand.”