The second stage of the Dakar Rally has been really long and complicated, both for the total kilometers (588) and for the nature of the terrain, slow and with very technical parts, similar to an enduro, where the Rieju Team riders have worked hard to overcome one of the hardest stages of those disputed so far in Saudi Arabia.
Argentinean Diego Llanos, currently one of the best enduro riders in his country, enjoyed an ideal stage for his type of riding. Showing his speed and consistency, he finished in 19th position, second in the Rally2 class, a short distance behind the winner of this category, thanks to this result he climbs to 23rd place in the provisional general classification.
It has also been a very good day for Sandra Gomez, in fact her experience in the Hard Enduro has also served her well through the many stones and slow terrain, beating a good number of riders who were ahead of her. Sandra, has made an exhibition of good technique, endured a very hard stage, to finish in 71st place overall and what is better, overcomes his rival among the women, to become provisional leader of her class.
Less fortunate was her teammate Dani Nosiglia, who really struggled after suffering a heavy fall at km 200 of the special, damaging his bike, leaving his handlebars badly bent, among other things. Diego lost some time in the classification and finished the day in 36th place. The Bolivian rider now drops 9 positions in the overall ranking to 26th.
For Pato Cabrera the stage was very hard, but the Chilean enjoyed it, setting a dynamic pace and without crashes, allowing him to finish in 53rd position. What's even better, he climbs from 88th place in the provisional general classification to 64th.
#54 Dani Nosiglia:
"It has been a super complicated and hard stage for me, I had a fall at km 200, I bent the handlebars and it took a lot from me to reach the finish line, I lost a lot of time, luckily we are already at the finish, now we have to repair the bike and start a new race, since we have lost time, it's going to be difficult to fight among the good positions, but well, we are going day by day giving it our all and advancing as much as we can."
#56 Sandra Gómez:
"Today again I started a little behind, in fact I think I can be much further ahead, but as it was a long day and I saw that it was a rocky and enduro terrain in the first part, I tried to push as much as I could, overtaking many people, on the stones I'm a little better than the riders around me, so I took advantage of this to start better tomorrow, not to be caught by the cars so early. Bit by bit, day by day, there were soooo many stones and it was very easy to fall, I didn't fall, so I'm happy, tomorrow more, there's still a lot to go."
#29 Diego Llanos:
"Very hard day, very hard, it was 430km of special from which I started pushing right at the beginning, getting a good pace and was able to finish together with the leading riders, it was a good day for me and for the team, so let's continue for the third day tomorrow."
#35 Patricio Cabrera:
"Stage two was tough, although it was a solid day for me, I felt very comfortable throughout the day, I didn't have any falls, it was a very physical stage, we are in one piece and in the race, let's think about tomorrow, hopefully there will be dunes!".
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the participants will face the third stage of the Rally, ALULA > HA'IL, with a total of 668km, distributed in 447km of special stage and 221 of liaison, a special stage that as they have advanced, will be fast, long, difficult to navigate and what is more important, decisive.
*It is important to note that due to the fact that the classifications are subject to last minute changes by the organization, these may differ from those published.
