The marathon stage of the 2025 Dakar Rally began this Wednesday, a phase where riders have no assistance from support teams. It’s one of the greatest challenges of the entire route, with the potential for significant gains or losses.
Ross Branch, last year’s rally-raid world champion, told the official Dakar website that it will now be difficult to create major gaps:
– We needed to make it happen today. Today was the last day to make a big difference, and we didn’t do that. But it is what it is. Let’s see what we can do next week.
The Hero MotoSports rider finished 13th in the fourth stage, losing 19m11s to stage winner Daniel Sanders. The Red Bull KTM rider leads the general classification, with Branch in third, 26m10s behind.
