The penultimate stage of the 2013 Dakar proves less taxing than expected for the riders.
Stage Thirteen was expected to be the last real challenge of the 2013 Dakar, a long and difficult day was forecast but the reality was far gentler. The long special stage was faster and less technical than the stages around Copiapo have proven to be in the past and with day fourteen set to be nothing more than a formality the race is all but done.
The days racing revealed itself to be far faster and more open than most had anticipated. The first 100km of the special stage was very fast, followed by pockets of sand and fesh fesh. As has been the tale of the 2013 Dakar for Simon, the day proved largely uneventful as he went about recording another 60th place finish on the day. Not finding the high speeds to his liking Simon chose to once again play things safe. He again moved up the standings and going into the final day of the rally sits in 59th overall.
Simon Pavey – “I was a little disappointed today, I thought the stage was going to be really challenging and difficult. Two years ago we had the best Dakar stage I’ve ever done here, it was technical, the navigation was hard and I expected more of the same.
The reality was far more boring. The stage was fast, it wasn’t hard at all and apart from a few pockets it was largely uninteresting. I did enjoy a few parts of the day, we had some really big dunes and a great section of fast whoops but I’d like to have seen a more interesting riding from the area.
Tomorrow looks like it’s going to be a formality as well. At first we thought it was going to be really long, with 400km of special, but it’s broken up by a big neutralized liaison section. It only amounts to about 130km of racing time, however this is the Dakar and there could be a few surprises in store. Hopefully everything goes to plan and the whole team will be stood on the podium together.”
Stage Fourteen is the final stage of the 2013 Dakar. The stage leaves the coastal town of La Serena and heads south to Santiago. The stage is expected to be straight forward but there are still 600km of riding ahead for the competitors.
Stage Results.
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Simon Pavey – 59th – 04:54:51
Overall Results.
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Simon Pavey – 59th – 52:20:31