Daniel Sanders continues to deliver an impressive performance in the 2025 Dakar. On Monday, he won the Chrono 48H, the second stage, and is now 12m36s ahead of Skyler Howes (Monster Energy Honda) in the overall lead.
The Red Bull KTM rider told the Dakar website that there were some challenges, but he feels good: ‘It wasn’t too bad, pretty hard in the soft dunes, it was very tough for a lot of us. When opening, you didn’t know if it was going to be a soft dune or a hard dune. It was pretty tough. The dust kind of ruined it a lot, it would have been cool to have a bit of a wetter area, compared to last year in the dunes where it was pretty even. But everyone was bunched up fighting in the dust for the opening bonuses. So, it was a bit tough on that side, but overall the body feels good and I don’t feel tired at all, I just saved a lot of energy and I’m ready for next week’.
At one point during the stage, Sanders found himself in a large group of riders on the track, a situation he considers dangerous but also fun: ‘It’s a bit sketchy, especially trying to get that opening bonus with like five or six wide going in just to hit a waypoint. So, I think this needs to be relooked at – especially when it’s a big group like that. It’s a bit dangerous, but in the end it was good. Riding together was pretty funny. I think at one point we all got stuck on a soft dune and looked across. I was about 15 of us just stuck in the dunes. So, it’s pretty funny. I’m happy to reach the finish line’.
The Australian didn’t seem too concerned about having to open the third stage: ‘The boys are going to start back. I got to open the next stage, so it’s just how it’s worked these first few days. I got the stage win, but it was on me to decide whether I wanted to win today or not. I’m committed and ready to take on the challenge tomorrow’.