Broken collarbone can’t stop Sanders at Dakar Stage 10

2026 Dakar Rally

Stage 10 – Bisha (Marathon) to Bisha

Adrien Van Beveren has claimed the 2026 Dakar Rally Stage 10 win, with a disastrous crash for Australia’s Daniel Sanders early on seeing him quickly back on the bike, but obviously struggling for the pace that’s come so naturally to him, so far. Thankfully the day was relatively short with a 371 km special, and 47 km liaison.

A 15th place finish, 27m50s off the lead, saw Sanders plummet through the provisional standings to fourth, 17m37s off a leading Ricky Brabec with Luciano Benavides nipping at his heels just 56-seconds off.

Sanders crashed at km 138, having started the day in the overall lead, with helicopter footage showing him being assisted by Ricky Brabec, but clearly struggling with a shoulder injury, and favouring just one arm. By the 163 km time check Sanders had lost his overall lead, and it would only get worse from there.

Sanders would be checked by the medical team at the neutralisation, confirming trauma to his left shoulder, which he later explained to be a likely broken collarbone and sternum in a post-race interview.

Daniel Sanders

“It looks like for sure a snapped collarbone, at the refuel we checked it. At 140 km/h I went over a dune and it was pretty scary, nearly landing on Tosha, we all missed it, but I got up and knew the collarbone was broken and also the sternum. I’ve broken this as well, so there’s no power. So it wasn’t nice in the dunes at all.

“We’ll go back to the team and re-evaluate the injuries and the situation and see if its safe to continue I guess. I want to continue, I wouldn’t finish today if I didn’t want to continue, so yea, it is what it is. I’ve just done 150 km in the sand dunes, it shouldn’t be too bad [to continue], it should all be rocks now, so I should be able to stand up and cruise along. If it was sand dunes it would be tough, but we’re done with the dunes, on the gravel roads its a little bit easier, but we’ll see. We don’t – quit, mum and dad didn’t raise no quitter, so I’m not pulling out now. Until someone else tells me to pull out, or they drag me out of the race, I’m not stopping.”

Andreas Hölzl – Red Bull KTM Factory Racing Rally Team Manager

“Unfortunately, Daniel had a heavy crash after jumping a large dune and landing hard, but despite that he managed to reach the finish, which deserves a lot of respect. He is receiving excellent care from our medical team, and it has now been confirmed that he will restart the rally tomorrow. It was certainly not an easy day, but he showed real toughness out there and we’ll continue to support him fully as the race goes on. On the positive side, Luciano delivered a strong ride to finish third on the stage today and lies second overall in the standings, which is a great result for the team as we head into the final stages of the rally.”

Tosha Schareina had been opening the stage solo prior to this, but was quickly caught by Sanders and Michael Docherty, who started three and six-minutes behind him.

Soon after we’d see Van Beveren joining Schareina, Docherty and Brabec opening the way, with riders who had stopped to assist downed riders to be refunded time lost. That would include Schareina and Brabec, as well as Edgar Canet.

The final tally for the stage saw Van Beveren 3m49s ahead of Brabec, and 4m04s clear of Benavides.

Adrien Van Beveren

“It was a good day to take the win. We had a lot of sand and this is my terrain, you know I really enjoy it. After the first week, where I had a few problems, it was not easy to regroup and be focused again and try to give my best, but I did it. This stage win is more than a stage win, it’s also a good result after trying to improve everything and get back to my real level.”

Ricky Brabec

“The marathon stage was good overall. We got to sleep on the ground, under the stars, it was really cool. Overall, the two days was awesome, we did the best job we could and the outcome is pretty good. If we’re still in a good position for the next three days, we’ll just keep doing the best we can and we’ll keep plugging away. We made it back which is my main goal, my bike is in one piece, so for my mechanics it’s super awesome. The times are super tight, I don’t know if I like it still, but it’s a good race I’m sure for the people watching. We’ll keep fighting, there’s three days to go, hopefully at the end of this thing we’re in the position we want to be in.”

Luciano Benavides

“It was a really intense day out there. I made a mistake after the refueling and got stuck in a dune, which cost me a few minutes, and for a moment I honestly thought my Dakar might be over. Thankfully a couple of riders stopped to help me get going again, so I’m very grateful to them. Despite that setback, I felt good on the bike and was able to keep pushing, and overall, the feeling wasn’t bad. It was a day with a lot happening, especially in the dunes, and you could see how tough it was for everyone. Now the focus is on regrouping, getting some rest after a demanding marathon stage, and resetting for tomorrow. My approach remains the same: push every day, give my maximum, and keep fighting until the end.”

Skyler Howes fourth  (+4m51s), with Ignacio Cornejo rounding out the top five for Hero.

Skyler Howes

“Time and time again we’re seeing that the marathon stage is a key factor in this race. Yesterday, I did a much better job of managing, it was really rocky in the beginning and tricky navigation, so I more or less just chilled out and rode really easy, managed the bike, brought it in in a good position and also didn’t make any navigation mistakes. Today, I knew it was going to be really physically demanding. I rode normally, I didn’t go out of my comfort zone. Adrien passed me going full gas, I just let him go. I was riding my own race today and eventually we caught back up. They were opening the stage and it was really difficult to open in the big dunes so I was able to close the gap back up and I would consider this a really good stage, managed it, I rode my own race, had my own plan.”

Rally2 riders Michael Docherty and Toni Mulec notably held sixth and seventh for the stage, followed by Schareina, Lucci and Edgar Canet, who would eventually replace Ventura in the top-10, after having time returned from stopping to help downed riders.

Tosha Schareina

“It was not easy, we knew after yesterday that we were going to lose so much time today because it was full, soft dunes. From 80 km we were riding all together. After refuelling Daniel Sanders had a crash and we stopped with him to try and help. After that we were riding together until the end, over the dunes, trying to fight with the dust and to try and take advantage of taking all the bonus time. We are more or less back in the game, it will not be easy tomorrow or for the last three days, for sure it’s not a secret, we will continue to push.”

“It was a tough day. I started the stage feeling good in the dunes, but very early on I stopped to help a rider who had crashed, until the helicopter arrived and I could continue. Later in the stage I came across another rider with a very serious crash and stopped again to assist until the doctors and helicopter were on site. Those moments cost a lot of time, but that’s part of racing and the most important thing is helping when someone needs it. The marathon stage taught us a lot, both technically and mentally, and while it’s never easy to see this side of the race, I’m confident things will improve in the coming days.”

While still provisional the overall standings now see Brabec leading, Benavides just 56-seconds off, and then a significant gap back to Schareina and Sanders at 15m43s and 17m37s respectively.

Howes rounds out the top five, but is almost 39-minutes off the leader, with Van Beveren trailing by 58m25s in sixth. He’s followed by Cornejo (1h01m31s), Ranch (2h21m29s), Campbell (2h28m15s) and Mulec (2h31m38s).

David Brock had a better day, finishing 84th and now sits 88th overall in bikes.

In the Ultimate class, Toby Price ended the day 30th, but remains inside the top-10, in ninth for the overall standings.

Next: Stage 11

Thursday’s stage 11 will see riders leave Bisha and head to Al Henakiyah. Totaling 883 kilometres, the stage features a long liaison of 537 kilometres and 346 kilometres of timed special, which promises to test the riders’ navigation skills to the maximum.

2026 Dakar Rally Stage 10 Results

2026 Dakar Rally Standings after Stage 10

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule

2026 Dakar Rally Route/Schedule

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