Alexandre Giroud: "Dakar is still far away"

Dakar 2023 | Stage 13 | SHAYBAH > AL-HOFUF
January 14 ^th 2023 - 12:54 [GMT + 3]

Fifth today, the reigning champion is as dominant as Al Attiyah, with over 40 minutes in hand over his closest pursuer in the general standings.

"We've never been so close, as they say. But as Pierre Lartigue, I think, once said: Dakar is still far away. This is even truer in Saudi Arabia! We've got one road section and one day left.  I've been thinking about victory since day one, now we're taking it step by step. Yesterday I had a difficult stage, we know that everything can come crashing down at any time, so we stay focused and we'll be happy tomorrow if we pull it off. I set a reasonable pace today to stay concentrated, as there were some pitfalls with broken dunes and hard-to-read terrain, but I'm here and the machine worked like a charm."