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🇪🇸 Spain /Sports

Toni Bou extends his legend with 40 world titles before turning 40

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Outcome reported
  • Toni Bou won his 20th outdoor trial world title at the Trial of the Netherlands, giving him 40 world championships overall before turning 40.
  • Bou defeated Jaime Busto and Gabriel Marcelli in the second round and has won every world title since beginning his Montesa-Honda and Repsol partnership in 2007.
  • He entered the event with a 113-point lead over Busto and 111 over Marcelli, but secured the championship with a victory rather than relying only on the standings.

Toni Bou reached 40 world titles before turning 40, completing a challenge he once described as an “incredible” goal. The Catalan rider won his 20th outdoor trial crown at the Trial of the Netherlands, adding it to his 20 indoor titles.

Bou sealed the championship by winning the second round ahead of his main rival and former teammate Jaime Busto, who rides for Beta, and Montesa Repsol teammate Gabriel Marcelli. The result extended a run of 40 consecutive world titles across 20 years, beginning in 2007 after Bou joined Montesa-Honda and Repsol. He turns 40 on Oct. 17.

Busto led the first race after Bou made an error, but Bou recovered at zone nine. Busto then incurred failures at zones five and nine, each worth 10 penalty points, allowing Bou to take control. Bou finished with five penalty points, compared with 11 for Busto and 21 for Marcelli.

It would be an incredible challenge to win 40 titles at 40, and now it is not so far away.

· Toni BouBou described the goal in a 2024 interview when he had won 36 world titles.

Bou already held a 113-point advantage over Busto and a 111-point lead over Marcelli, so he did not need to win to become champion. He wanted to secure the title with a victory and did so. He has won all six trials in the 2026 outdoor season so far.

The article presents the achievement as the continuation of two decades of dominance. Riders including Adam Raga, Albert Cabestany, Dougie Lampkin, Taka Fujinami, Busto and Marcelli have beaten Bou in individual trials but have not taken a world title from him. Nor have changing regulations or serious right-shoulder injuries, including a partial subscapularis tendon tear dating from 2016 and a supraspinatus tear suffered in a fall in August 2025, ended his run.

It is more than a dream because no athlete has the opportunity to spend so many years winning so many world championships.

· Toni BouBou celebrated his 20th consecutive year of world-title success after the Trial of the Netherlands.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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