Berta Abellan is a fighter! The twenty-three-year-old from Terrassa, just thirty kilometres north-west of the Catalan capital Barcelona, has finished runner-up in the elite TrialGP Women class of the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship four times in the last five years and is still pushing for the crown.

Her main rival is, of course, Emma Bristow who has won the title eight times in the last nine years and the desire to defeat the British rider is a major motivation for Abellan.

“The fact that I haven’t won a world title motivates me a lot, knowing that I can achieve it,” she said. “Fighting and training every day to fulfil one of my dreams is what motivates me and helps me to keep working – apart from the fact that I really enjoy doing what I do.”

Now in her second season with Scorpa, Abellan started her 2023 campaign with a sensational double win at the TrialGP of Spain in April. Since then she has followed Bristow home on both days in Portugal and Japan, but she knows a double win at the TrialGP of Italy next month would put her firmly back in contention for the championship.

“I plan to give my best in all the races that are left. I’m working hard for it and I see myself capable of doing it.”
Like so many riders in such a family-orientated sport, Abellan’s introduction to Trial came thanks to her father.

“I started Trial when I was four years old with my father. He has always been a fan of Trial and he taught it to me with a lot of enthusiasm. It started as a Sunday hobby with my father and friends, but little by little I got hooked on the world of competition and it became a challenge to try to do my best in the races.”

Abellan is no stranger to top-flight success. She won the European women’s title in 2018 and has been a member of Spain’s victorious FIM Women’s Trial des Nations team on four occasions since 2017.

Calling Catalonia home means Abellan has no shortage of role models to choose from so it is no surprise that three of the four riders she most looks up to also come from the region.

“I admire Laia Sanz’s mental strength, Toni Bou’s perseverance and self-improvement, Aniol Gelabert’s technique and Jaime Busto’s flow.”

As a sport with such a great sense of camaraderie, Trial helps to forge friendships so while she remains incredibly competitive when there are points up for grabs, during the week Abellan enjoys practising alongside the same riders she aims to beat at weekends

“If [other riders] come to train here they let me know and we meet up. It is great that there is a good atmosphere between us. At the end of the day Trial is a sport in which you compete against yourself [but] I like training with my rivals.”

Whatever the result in Sestriere next month or at the final round in France at the beginning of September, one thing is certain – Abellan will be laying everything on the line to achieve her dream.

“I am a professional, I’m dedicating myself one-hundred-per-cent. I am very satisfied with my work and the commitment I put into it.”

The next round of the Hertz FIM Trial World Championship is the TrialGP of Italy at Sestriere on 21-23 July which will be streamed LIVE on FIM-MOTO.TV.

The cost is for €7.99 for full weekend coverage or €24.99 for the new mid-season pass, including the FIM Trial des Nations.

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