One of the toughest stages to date in Saudi Arabian territory was passed with flying colors.
 
The third stage Alula - Ha'Il, with a liaison of 221 km and a special of 447 km featured wet terrain and puddles in the early hours of the morning, but then the rains intensified to a torrential downpour, damaging a large part of the riders who were hit by this intense storm, forcing the organizers to suspend the race.  
 
The few riders who managed to finish the stage were faced with another long special stage, with complex navigation challenges to overcome several canyons on the route, followed by open and faster areas where they were able to increase the pace.
 
 
After the good performance of Diego Llanos in yesterday's stage, the Argentinean driver was in good spirits today, fighting throughout the stage among the first places in the Rally2 category, to finish in the fourth position of the day and 25th overall. He now moves up one place in the provisional ranking to 22nd. In the Rally2 class he remains second.
 
 
Dani Nosiglia ended Mondays's special a bit discouraged after suffering a heavy fall in which he damaged some parts of his bike and lost a lot of time because of it, but today, after the bike was repaired by the assistance, went out in perfect condition to strike back with the idea of recovering the lost time. Dani finished 27th overall and is now 26th in the provisional classification.
 
 
Less lucky were Sandra Gómez and Pato Cabrera, who also managed to finish the day, but the storm reached them in the middle of the special, arriving at the bivouac very wet and very cold. Sandra Gómez left this morning satisfied with yesterday's results, overtaking many riders ahead of her and also ahead of her main competitor by 2 minutes and a half, so she was placed in the provisional first position among the women, her main goal. Today, leaving a little further ahead, she encountered a strong storm in the middle of the special stage. In a few minutes the stage became completely impassable, so the organization decided to cancel it for the safety of the riders.
 
Because of this decision, the times of the riders who have reached the finish line are preserved, but the rest are pending the average time achieved during the first part of the stage. Due to this, the classification of Sandra Gómez is awaiting the average time calculation. The Chilean Patricio Cabrera is in the same situation as Sandra, he has reached the bivouac well, but so far without a classification assigned.
 
 
The route of the Dakar will continue next Wednesday with the dispute of the fourth stage, a total of 573km between HA'IL > HA'IL, starting with a 148km liaison and a special that begins with the first 100km through sandy mountains, followed by sandy tracks, ending once a total of 425km of special has been overcome, also the intense navigation will end up complicating the stage for the participants.