Joan Roma of Spain won the third stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday, while Krzysztof Holowczyc of Poland led overall.
Frenchman Cyril Despres won the motorcycle stage to claim first place overall.
His compatriot, Sebastien Coue, was in critical condition after crashing during the second stage. Coue was found in sand dunes in western Argentina and hospital officials said it was not clear how long he had been unconscious and exposed to temperatures above 40oC.
The Dakar Rally, considered one of the most dangerous in motor sports, has already claimed three lives this year. Argentine bike rider Jorge Martinez Boero died in a crash in Sunday’s first stage. On the same day, the pilot of an ultralight plane and his son died when the aircraft went down while following the race.
Roma, driving a Mini, won the 208km special stage from San Rafael to San Juan in central Argentina in 2 hours, 26 minutes, 51 seconds.
He was 1 minute, 9 seconds ahead of Holowczyc and 1 minute, 29 seconds in front of last year’s overall winner in cars, Nasser al-Attiyah, who is driving a Hummer.
Holowczyc, also in a Mini, led the overall standings by 54 seconds in front of the US’ Robby Gordon in a Hummer. Giniel de Villiers of South Africa is 1 minute, 40 seconds behind the leader in his Toyota.
In bikes, Despres took the 270km special stage in 3 hours, 48 minutes, 38 seconds. The KTM rider finished 8 minute, 37 seconds in front of Frans Verhoeven of the Netherlands on a Sherco, and 8 minute, 39 seconds faster than Portuguese driver Paulo Goncalves on a Husqvarna.
Defending bike champion Marc Coma of Spain, the leader after stage two, made a navigational error — losing himself on the route — and finished in seventh place, 13 minutes, 4 seconds behind KTM teammate Despres.
In the overall standings in bikes, Despres leads Coma by 10 minutes, 12 seconds. French rider David Casteu is third on his Yamaha, 17 minutes, 16 seconds behind.
This is the fourth consecutive year the event is being held in South America.
The route this year is different to the first three, which were loop courses from Buenos Aires to Chile and then back to Buenos Aires.
This year the race begins in Argentina, passes through Chile and finishes in Lima, Peru, on Jan. 15.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later