“VBA” took advantage of the setbacks of its opponents, and first of all the former leader of the general standings, Matthias Walkner, to regain control. The stage victory went to Toby Price.
The takeover of Matthias walkner will have been short-lived. Indeed the Austrian, who took the top spot yesterday thanks to its remarkable regularity, has indeed lost big today, on the special linking Wadi Ad-Dawasir to Bisha, while the Dakar has now taken the road back to Jeddah, place of arrival of this 44th edition after- tomorrow.
Walkner, who started this morning in fourth position in the starting order, nevertheless held his ground throughout the event but broke down in the last section, probably due to a navigation error, on a very rolling special stage. and contested in sumptuous landscapes, even if the numerous track crossings did not help, as we can see, the drivers to orient themselves correctly.
At the first score, it was the Pole Maciej Giemza who created the surprise and temporarily took the lead on his Husqvarna, ahead of Joan Barreda, Kevin Benavidez, Walkner and Sam sunderland. Paul Quintanilla was not to be outdone either, the Chilean managing to regain the 45 seconds that separated him overall from the Frenchman over the first hundred kilometers covered. Adrien van Beveren.
Abandonment for Benavides
The first twist of this tenth stage occurred shortly after, when the defending champion, Benavides, was forced to dismount at kilometer 133 due to a mechanical problem. The Argentinian, fifth overall before the stage and more than ten minutes behind, could no longer afford the slightest misstep if he wanted to preserve his crown this year. The native of Salta must therefore resolve to see one of his competitors succeed him after his failure of the day, five drivers who can still credibly claim the coronation this year.
The first of them is of course Van Beveren. The tricolor has still not won a single stage in this third edition of the Dakar in Saudi Arabia, but it has shown unfailing consistency. The driver from Hazebrouck demonstrated this again this Wednesday by completing the special in third place.
The Northerner thus capitalizes where his main rivals are failing: among them Walkner, who as we said went astray during the last tens of kilometers, finishing the day's event almost 16 minutes behind the winner, the Australian Toby Price. But also Sam Sunderland, who started in a better position today and seemed to be able to take advantage of a track already swept before him. The latter, for his part, was more than 11 minutes behind the day's winner on arrival.
Price finally holds his victory
For Price, this tenth stage therefore sounds like revenge after his sanction during the fifth special, when the winner of the 2016 and 2019 editions was penalized for speeding, having to cede victory to Danilo Petrucci (who for his part finished this tenth stage in a very honorable 11th place). The KTM rider is thus ahead of Luciano Benavides (Kevin's younger brother) at the finish, at 2'09, and therefore Van Beveren at 3'35.
The latter thus takes back orders from the general, after having already had them in hand three days ago at the end of step 7, before being dislodged momentarily by Sunderland then Walkner. He is ahead of Sunderland, at 5'59, and Quintanilla, the Chilean who once again delivered a very good performance today and who remains in contention for the title in third position, at 6'15.
Despite his blunder of the day, Walkner also remains in the game, the Austrian occupying fourth place at 8'24, a handful of second ahead of Barreda, at 8'47. Thanks to his victory today, Price moved back to sixth position but can no longer hope for anything, relegated to almost 28 minutes from the race lead.
Tomorrow, this 44th edition of the Dakar will approach its penultimate stage with a final loop traced around Bisha, before a final return on Friday for the conclusion of the race, in Jeddah.
