Czech but not checkmate!
Dakar 2026 |
Stage 5 |
BIVOUAC REFUGE
> HAIL
January 8
th
2026
- 19:50
[GMT + 3]
There are Czech riders still in the race after five stages. One of them, Dusan Drdaj, is riding with a broken toe but is not letting it get him down and is still aiming to reach the finish in Yanbu.
The human skeleton is made up of 206 bones but on the Dakar it is possible to get through it even if one of them is damaged. At least that is the belief of Dusan Dradj, who can no longer really count on the big toe on his right foot. His tall silhouette can be seen limping through the bivouac but his injury should not make him suffer when it comes to revving the throttle during the rally’s stages. The 2022 Czech Republic motocross champion saw his first participation on the Dakar in 2024 disrupted by mechanical problems (completing the rally in 77th place as a Dakar Experience competitor), before finishing 17th last year. His goal of making progress hit a slight snag at the start of the marathon-refuge stage but it will require more than that to demoralise Dusan. “I had a bad fall after 39 kilometres and when the medical team arrived in the helicopter, they told me it was 90% certain that I’d fractured my toe but that I could carry on if I wanted to,” explains the biker, who did not lose much time in thinking about this proposition. “There were still around 380 kilometres left but I took some medicine and carried on in order to finish the marathon stage. I didn’t have a brilliant night’s sleep and I’ve been taking painkillers for two days. I can’t wait to get to the rest day in Riyadh”.
This situation is far from the most comfortable one for tackling the second half of the Dakar 2026 and its return journey to Yanbu but Dusan Dradj is not lacking sources of motivation. He sees this challenge as a way of defending national pride, with the Czech Republic and its Slovakian neighbour having almost always boasted representatives in the upper reaches of the Dakar rankings. “I need a second finisher’s medal for my third Dakar. It’s going to be difficult but I am going to fight to get to the finish. Since yesterday, I’ve been receiving lots of messages of support because at the start there were seven of us in total, including Stefan Svitko who is like a brother to me, but now there are only three of us left: Milan Engel, David Pabiska and me. They are much longer in the tooth than me on the Dakar [with 20 participations for one and 17 for the other]. They’re like fathers to me; I must finish the race”. By way of a small consolation, Dusan can look forward, albeit through gritted teeth, to the sixth and final stage of the week: “This Dakar is very difficult due to the rocks. I’m a motocross rider: we hate rocks but we love sand”.
