Dakar Rally , Stage 10, Iquique to Arica
Dakar Rally Media - Jan 12, 2012

Despite injuring his right foot after 35 km of this 10th special stage, Joan Barreda confirmed his status as the major revelation of 2012 by picking up his first stage victory on the Dakar, ahead of Marc Coma and Cyril Despres. 

Despres, who opened the road today, hangs on to his position as general standings leader, but only by 21 seconds ahead of the Catalan.

Despres had this to say: “It was all going well for me until the 225-km point and I'd managed to keep up a good pace. But I made a small navigation mistake and that's when Marc overtook me. He was with Joan Barreda, who I'd like to congratulate on riding a superb stage. At this level, every second counts! It's a scenario that I thought might happen, so I'm not surprised. I'm just happy to have got through another day. In any case, staying out in front for the whole 377 km whilst riding flat out isn't easy. If I finish in his dust or him in mine, it doesn't change that much.”

Joan Barreda Bort, the unquestionable revelation of the 33rd Dakar in the bike category, with 3 special stage finishes in the Top 5, displayed his full potential by winning his first special on the Dakar on the 10th stage. Not merely content with being quick, the young Spaniard also proved that he has a character to be reckoned with, by winning despite a severe injury to his right foot picked up after 35 km of the 377 on the day's programme.

Here is what he had to say: “After the rear wheel problems I had on the 3rd day, I've been taking it day by day. On the last stages it has been better and yesterday, for example, I saw that I could go on the attack, so I went for it. On today's stage, I had a problem with my foot. On a very quick bend, where I was at 120 kmph, I hit a stone with my foot and I thought that the impact had torn my leg off. When I arrived at the refuelling zone, I took some painkillers and it was ok until the end of the stage. I even sped up. We'll see what's happened to me. I thought I might have fractured my shin, but I don't think I have. I don't know how serious the injury is, but I think I should be ok and be able to finish in Lima.”

In the end, Barreda beat Marc Coma and Cyril Despres by 1'32” and 3'39” respectively. Still engaged in a battle for outright victory, the two rivals again returned blow for blow and, after winning yesterday and having the disadvantage of opening the road today, the Frenchman saw the Catalan triumph in terms of time, with Coma taking 2'07” back from his main rival. As a result, in the general standings, whilst Despres is still leader, he is now only 21” ahead of Coma.

Coma reflected on the 10^th Stage: “It's the tone that's been set for the rally and I think we'll keep on battling until the end. We keep trying to make the difference all the time and the entry into Peru will be decisive. The race will hinge on the smallest of margins. When the performance level is equivalent with the same team and the same bike, it's very difficult, both for him and for me. But when it comes to the crunch, it will be entirely to do with one rider or the other.” 

Behind them, however, the situation is starting to become clearer for Helder Rodrigues. With the 4th best time of the day, he took advantage of a fall by his countryman Paulo Gonçalves to gain a little more comfort in 3rd place in the general standings, boasting a lead that now stands at 32'56” over Jordi Viladoms in 4th.

The day's main loser was Gonçalves, as today's mishaps added a further 19'23” to his time, relegating him to 7th in the general standings.