The eleventh and penultimate stage was once again a loop, starting and finishing in Bisha, with 346 kilometres of timed stages and 155 kilometres of liaison. A day full of pitfalls and defined by the organisers as the toughest of the edition.
Daniel Nosiglia finished his best stage in 14th position, just 21 minutes behind the leader. Joan Pedrero was 25th fastest on the special stage and climbed up one more place in the standings, moving into the top 20. Pato Cabrera completed the timed stage in 46th position, although he remains 38th in the general standings, and Marc Calmet moved up four more places from 56th to 52nd after finishing in 52nd position today.
Joan Pedrero #17: "Today was a real Dakar stage. I rode at a pretty safe pace in the dunes, which were very soft and many bikes got stuck there. I rode alone and I didn't want to take any risks. The bike and I are perfect and that's what's important for the last day.
Daniel Nosiglia #54: "We need more stages like this one, with difficulties and very demanding both physically and mentally".
Pato Cabrera #50: "It was a difficult special with a lot of dunes, navigation and rocks".
Marc Calmet #108: "We had a demanding day of navigation and a lot of dunes. The sand was very soft and forced us to go flat out, and that made me suffer because of the fuel consumption. In addition, we had a sandstorm for 100 kilometres and that made visibility difficult. Despite this, I'm very happy because the sensations are very good".
