Rodrigues Leads Rally; Kurt Caselli 5th
Cycle News Staff | June 19, 2013
Honda’s Helder Rodrigues won yesterday’s second stage of the Dakar Series Desafio Ruta 40 in Argentina, the Portuguese rider also holding down the overall lead after the opening two stages over Red Bull KTM’s Marc Coma.
Coma’s two factory teammates also had a good day with Chilean Chaleco Lopez ending up in fourth place with Kurt Caselli fifth – four minutes and 46 seconds behind Rodrigues.
Caselli made his debut with the KTM factory team at the 2013 Dakar Rally where he stepped in to ride for the injured Coma.
The start of Tuesday’s stage was delayed by one hour after Monday’s opening stage was cancelled due to fog that prevented rescue helicopters to fly.
Riders left the bivouac in Tucuman early on Tuesday morning and had to travel for a total of 414 miles, including the 215-mile timed special, with the stage ending up in Catamarca.
Stage three takes riders from Catamarca south to Belen over a distance of 442 miles.
Coma trails Rodrigues by two minutes and 40 seconds in the overall standings.
