The Australian enjoyed a breakthrough 2025 campaign, claiming his first Dakar victory before securing the world title, but said success only changes a rider if they allow it to.
“It only changes if you let it change you,” Sanders said on KTM Summer Grill.
“It hasn’t changed anything really. It helps the bank account a little bit more. And when you need to buy a house or build something, it’s a bit nicer, but yeah, I still stay the same.
“I’m a competitor, so I’m just looking forward to the next race and trying to make as much in the career as possible and try and win as many races.
“That’s my goal and my focus.”
Sanders set the pace from the beginning of the 2025 Dakar Rally, topping the prologue and claiming an early lead he never surrendered. He went on to dominate the event, winning five stages and holding off his rivals to become just the second Australian to win the bikes category.
The 31-year-old said he felt in control from the opening days, confident in his rhythm and strategy long before the finish line.
“I got a pretty good lead by day two or three, and I just knew that how I was riding in the navigation and everything that by the time I got to day four, I was like, it was my race to lose,” he said.
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“Then I just had to perform and keep doing it without having a slip-up. So it was good having a bigger margin in the time, so you could play a little bit and not be so stressed and always fight 100 percent every day.”
That position allowed Sanders to manage risk rather than push on the limit, a crucial factor in an event where a single mistake can end a campaign.
“You’re not taking it easy, but you’re not pushing over the edge either,” he said. “The hardest part is staying focused and not thinking you’ve already won it.”
Experience played a key role in that control, with Sanders saying multiple Dakar starts helped reduce pressure and limit surprises, even if the rally remains unpredictable.
“I think that helps a lot by taking the pressure off you as well,” he explained.
“You’ve done that experience. So you always know this. You’re not going to get surprised by something, because you’ve already experienced so much in those races.
“Every year there’ll be something new that will pop up, but you just have to be ready.”
Rather than being weighed down by expectation, Sanders said pressure remains a positive force in his racing.
“With all my racing in the past, whether I’m happy, angry, or, you know, confident, it always helps, and you use that to drive the racing competitiveness,” he said.
“So I think you just know on each day how you are, and what you know… I think it’s good.”
Sanders said the reality of winning Dakar only fully hit him in the final kilometres of the rally.
“When I saw the finish line, that was the biggest sign of release, get the goose bumps through the body and just go, you’ve got to get another 500 meters to a kilometre to the finish line,” he said.
“And yeah, you just don’t believe that you’re at the finish line. The race is over.
“You’re just in a rabbit hole of just pushing through that grit and that crazy race of the difficulty of just pushing through the desert and you are that dehydrated, you’re that sleep deprived, and you’re just like, we’re here at the finish line, I’ve just won it.
“It was something pretty special and I’ll remember that one forever.”
Despite his breakthrough season, Sanders said his focus has already shifted to defending his Dakar crown and world title in 2026.
“We’ll try to get two more next year,” he said.
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