RALLY DAKAR 2023

Kevin Benavides wins stage 13 and the Dakar 2023 will be played with Toby Price and Skyler Howes

In the absence of the last day of the Dakar 2023, twelve seconds will separate the Australian Toby Price from the Argentine Kevin Benavides in the general classification, winner of today's stage with suspense, since they had to return the time he was with his teammate Matthias Walkner, which he left after a fall. Mason Klein did not go to the stage due to injury.

Compensating for time, the older Benavides covered the 154 timed kilometers between Shaybah and Al-Hofuf in 2 hours, 21 minutes and 47 seconds to lead South African Michael Docherty by 27 seconds and his brother Luciano Benavides by 57 seconds, who would have won the stage of not being sanctioned with one minute.

Now without the American Mason Klein, who decided not to start the stage after the pain he was suffering from the injury in the ninth stage, a decisive day began in which no great differences would open up either... but unlike what happened in the two marathon stages of the Empty Quarter, a lot would happen.

The first was sung: Nacho Cornejo, winner of yesterday's stage, was not long in being caught by Daniel Sanders, who shortly after the first waypoint began to open up the track. It was also no surprise that Toby Price ended up hunting the two down and began to form a tandem with Sanders while Cornejo followed at a safe distance.

The bad news was coming after them: Kevin Benavides, who had started in 5th position, was catching his teammate Matthias Walkner... until he found him on the ground. Suffering from severe back pain -but conscious and with mobility and arms and legs-, the Austrian pilot had to leave and the Argentine stayed with him for more than 20 minutes.

That meant they would have to give him time back, while also allowing him plenty of tracks ahead of him to fly through the rest of the stage. And that was what he did. He began to cut time from the two riders who seemed destined to play the stage -his brother Luciano Benavides and the rookie Michael Docherty- and appeared at the finish line 23:13 behind Luciano.

Thus came the suspense about how long they would return him and, in the midst of that wait, the sanction to Luciano Benavides for speeding was announced. A penalty that gave Michael Docherty the momentary victory, since Kevin Benavides' time recovery was soon estimated at 23:10, giving Docherty the victory by 27 seconds and 57 to Luciano.

Little more than two minutes gave up Adrien Van Beveren, with Toby Price limiting the damage and losing just two and a half minutes after receiving a 1:42 bonus; which allowed him to barely save the lead and increase his lead over Skyler Howes, seventh in the stage after Romain Dumontier, by just over a minute.

Eighth was Pablo Quintanilla with Tosha Schareina signing another top 10 and Ross Branch in tenth place. More discreet was Lorenzo Santolino, who with the retirements of Walkner and Klein rises to ninth overall, where Schareina is now 13th. The bad news was that Javi Vega was not having a good day and saw the lead vanish in Original, where Charan Moore leads him by more than 17 minutes.

Author: SWINXY