With many of the leading riders struggling on Sunday’s 402km Riyadh-Al Dawadimi test, van Beveren was able to leapfrog from the fourth position he held at the rest day into the top spot.
The French rider gained a position even before the start as GasGas rider Daniel Sanders crashed out during the liaison section before the timed special, while the Australian’s teammate Sunderland and his nearest rival, KTM’s Matthias Walkner, both lost in excess of 20 minutes.
Van Beveren didn’t have the smoothest of runs either, dropping 11 minutes and 22 seconds in relation to the Honda of Cornejo – who took his first stage win of the Dakar and the third of his career.
But the time he gained on Sunderland and Walkner has put the Yamaha man in command of the leaderboard with five stages remaining, 5m12s ahead of Walkner.
Eighth at the rest day, reigning champion Kevin Benavides (KTM) proved to be Cornejo’s nearest challenger on the stage, finishing just 44 seconds in arrears of the Chilean…
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