Dakar cow calamity

Australian Andy Caldecott won yesterday’s stage of the Dakar despite have a very uncomfortable encounter with a cow.

The KTM rider took his second win of the race by over two minutes on second placed man David Fretigne but had to cope with the embarrassment of colliding with the rear end of a Cow during the stage.

Caldecott: “I hit a cow in its rear. Luckily I just tumbled a little. I hope the cow is doing well, too. At the beginning I was pacing along. But after the accident with the cow I reduced the speed a little. I didn’t want to risk too much.”

American rider Chris Blais took third place on the stage with Alfie Cox fourth followed by Jean De Azevedo and Isidre Esteve Pujol.

Overall leader Cyril Despres managed to mangle his exhaust by hitting a rock leaving him to finish in seventh, but he still held on to the lead in the overall standings by over 16 minutes.

Despres: “I overlooked a large rock on the ground and my exhaust crashed. Afterwards the exhaust pipe was squashed. I needed a few minutes to repair the damage. I bent the exhaust with pliers until the fumes could escape again. Afterwards I continued riding a bit more careful.”

The day also saw the funeral of KTM rider Fabrizio Meoni who died after an accident on Tuesday, January 11. All the 108 riders left in the event wore black armbands in memory of Meoni while the double Dakar champion was buried in his hometown of Castiglion Fiorentino.