Pol Tarres lit up the hard enduro stage when he tackled the Red Bull Romaniacs on his Yamaha T7, and it made me wonder why more brands weren't sending their middleweight adventure bikes to hard enduro events. That is, until I learned KTM—a main sponsor—was holding back an adventure bike class because it didn't have a rider that the executives thought would be competitive, but that's changing.
Last year, it was announced that, for the first time, Red Bull Romaniacs would have an Adventure Lite and Adventure Ultimate class. Now, Triumph is making the most of this opportunity to show what it has to offer in the middleweight ADV niche. The Hinckley brand is sending two off-road legends to Red Bull Romaniacs, which takes place on July 22-26, aboard the OEM's Tiger 900 Rally Pro bikes, and it's not messing about when it comes to who's riding them.
Triumph has recruited Dakar legend Sam Sunderland, who'll pilot the Tiger 900 Rally Pro in the new Adventure Lite class and mark his first competitive debut for Triumph. Those of you who know of Sunderland probably know he officially retired from two-wheeled racing after the 2024 Dakar. Well, the two-time Dakar Rally winner and former FIM World Rally-Raid Champion is back, and that in and of itself is newsworthy.
