STAGE 5: SAN JUAN DE MARCONA – AREQUIPA (Special: 266 km – Total: 774)
An impressive Farrés continues to climb positions
- Gerard Farrés maintains his steady and relentless pace through Dakar and finishes yet another good stage, gaining positions in the overall classification to solidify himself in eigth place.
- Another great stage by Dani Oliveras, who overcame a mechanical problem and was able to keep up with the leaders’ pace, finishing the day within the stage’s Top 20.
- Solid day as well for Marc Solà, Iván Cervantes and Rosa Romero, which allows the HIMOINSA Team to stay in the race with all its riders, in this decade’s toughest and most selective Dakar.
January 10th, 2018
Arequipa (Peru). This fifth stage of the 2018 Dakar was highlighted in red by all the riders even before taking the start. In view of the harshness imposed by the Peruvian desert, the 266 kilometers of special through the giant dunes of Tanaka, could prove to be deadly for the chances of many favorites.
However, Gerard Farrés started the day with an incredible pace, which placed him as the second fastest rider for a considerable part of the stage, keeping up with the incredible pace of the stage winner, Joan Barreda.
On his route, the HIMOINSA Team rider came across Dani Oliveras, who started a few minutes before and had to fix an oil leak which cost him 10 minutes. From that moment on, until the end of the stage, the two riders rode together, with a very good pace which allowed them to reach the finish line among the best, gaining more positions in the overall classification. This allows Farrés to be the best private rider of the race for another day, keeping up with the factory bikes.
Another highlight of the day was Marc Solà’s best stage result of 2018, finishing twenty-fifth. Meanwhile, Iván Cervantes and Rosa Romero once again demonstrate their regularity, and allow the HIMOINSA Team to stand out as one of the most solid teams (and the best private team) in this gruelling test for the participants, which is the toughest Dakar of recent years.
Gerard Farrés (@gerardfarres): “This stage’s itinerary made for one of the most spectacular and enjoyable specials I have ever rode. I feel very well physically, the bike is perfect and this shows in the pace I kept for most of the day. I am very happy with how we have managed to complete the desert stages in Peru and now it is time to change our mentality, because in Bolivia we will find a completely different race.”
Dani Oliveras (@danioliveras_21): “I had an awesome start, but suddenly I saw that I had an oil leak which, fortunately, I could fix in time before it got more serious. This made me lose about 10 minutes, which allowed Gerard to catch me and from that moment on, we rode the rest of the stage together. I’m very happy because the favorites are really fast and I’m still comfortable with the speed and the pace”
Marc Solà (@marsola34): “Very happy with this special. Really positive overall, because I wanted to ride and navigate at my own pace without making any mistakes, and in the second part of the stage the sand was very soft, which added some difficulty. Towards the end we also rode through a canyon where there was a lot of fesh-fesh from the passing of the cars and trucks and it was a bit treacherous, so I did not want to take more risks than necessary. Overall, I’m very happy with how things have gone in the desert of Peru. Let’s go to Bolivia.”
Classification: Stage 5 (provisional *)
1st J. Barreda (3: 19.42)
2nd M. Walkner (+10.26)
3rd K. Benavides (+12.20)
8th Gerard Farrés (+15.24)
17th Dani Oliveras (+29.08)
25th Marc Solà (+36.33)
*** Iván Cervantes (pending arrival to finish)
*** Rosa Romero (pending arrival to finish)
General Classification (provisional *)
1st A. Van Beveren (14: 37.40)
2nd K. Benavides (+1.00)
3rd M. Walkner (+1: 14)
8th Gerard Farrés (+15.24)
19th Dani Oliveras (+1: 05.40)
30th Marc Solà (+2: 18.01)
35th Iván Cervantes (+2: 47.00)
*** Rosa Romero (pending arrival to finish)
Next stage: Arequipa – La Paz (Special: 313 km – Total: 760 km)
