Despres Takes Over Rally Of Morocco

Cycle News Staff | October 18, 2012

KTM’s Cyril Despres finished second in today’s stage four of the Morocco Rally to take over the overall lead after Honda’s Helder Rodrigues suffered an engine problem that knocked him out of the stage.

Today’s stage was won by Kuba Przgonski, the KTM rider earning victory in very difficult conditions as the riders encountered sand storms on today’s route. He came in some two minutes and 27 seconds ahead of Despres.

Despres has lost both of his main rivals in this years race with Marc Coma suffering a dislocated shoulder yesterday and Rodrigues running into mechanical issues today.

Today’s stage featured 155 miles of tough desert riding with a mix of rocky piste and sand dunes, but it was the notorious sand storms that gave them the most problems with very poor visibility. This resulted in a significant reshuffle of the leader board, which saw many of the top 10 riders dropping down the order. The conditions are expected to be the same for tomorrow’s stage as it covers a lot of the same ground and is about the same distance.