Skyler Howes: “it actually puts me in a good position for tomorrow”

Dakar 2023 | Stage 11 | ALULA > YANBU
January 12 ^th 2023 - 12:22 [GMT + 3]

With the 4th best time a little more than 2 minutes behind the winner, Skyler Howes regains the lead in the general rankings from Kevin Benavides who drops into 3rd. Now Toby Price occupies 2nd place, only 28’’ behind.

“The stage was really fast, also with lots of dunes – really big dunes too. I felt the rhythm pretty good and had a good pace going. I got stuck on a couple of dunes and had to turn around. I fell over on one of them whilst I was turning around, so it’s kind of a bummer there to lose some time. Also, I had to search for one way point for a little bit. I didn’t get it really perfect, but otherwise it wasn’t really such a huge deal. There were a couple of small little mistakes that slowed me down a bit, but it actually puts me in a good position for tomorrow and the bike’s overall in really good condition. So, as far as the marathon stage goes, it was a good first day of it and we’ll see what tomorrow has in store for us. I don’t know exactly what the standings are so far, but what I do know is that definitely it’s going to be close. There wasn’t much separating us out there today. I know the times were super close out there today. All it’s going to do is to be tight going all the way in to the finish, which is super exciting”.