© REUTERS
Luciano Benavides (Husqvarna) has won the ninth Dakar stage for the motorcycles. Benavides was 1’02” faster than Toby Price (KTM). Skyler Howes (Husqvarna) finished third at 2’57”. In the standings, the American remains leader for the fifth consecutive day. The gap with first pursuer Toby Price is only 3 seconds. Kevin Benavides (KTM) is third at 5’09”. The Belgian Jérome Martiny (Husqvarna) finished 34th.
Bron: BELGIAN
During the rest day, the tough stage of today/Tuesday was a topic of conversation for quite a few riders. The experienced Joan Barreda (Honda) crashed after 16 km and had to retire. The Spaniard was flown to hospital in Riyadh with back problems. Joan Barreda previously won the fourth stage in this Dakar.
After 117 km, the navigation became tough. Mason Klein (KTM), Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) and Ross Branch (Hero) deviated from the route and all three would lose valuable time. And that loss of time was of course not without consequences in the general classification. Quintanilla lost 18’36”. He remains fifth in the standings, but he now faces a gap of 18’24”. Mason Klein lost 21’26” and drops from third to sixth in the standings. His gap to Skyler Howes has increased to 18’42”. Adrien Van Beveren (Honda) also lost his way but was able to limit the time loss to 15’48”. In the standings, the Frenchman rises from sixth to fourth place at 15’40” from Skyler Howes.
The battle for the stage victory turned into a duel between Price and Benavides who took turns taking the lead. In the end, Luciano Benavides came out on top and won his second stage in the Dakar.
Jérome Martiny had a good stage. The Belgian finished 34th at 35’53”. Martiny is 35th in the standings.