Daniel Sanders finished second in the eighth stage of the Dakar before the race takes a break this monday. This is the only rest day, which was originally scheduled, although the cancellation of the seventh stage for the bikes allowed the riders to recharge their batteries this past saturday.
After the eighth stage, which took place this sunday, the australian highlighted the difficult navigation and made it clear that he feels better about his stomach. Hoping to be recovered for the ninth stage, Sanders hopes to be back in the fight as early as tomorrow.
'Damn it was pretty wet out theree! For the guys out first it must have been pretty bad, and navigating was tough because of the rain and sand on the goggles. But overall, it’s been a good day. I was fortunate to get a bit of a recovery day yesterday [saturday] , and I used that time to get some rest and I was able to keep what I ate and drank down, so coming into this sunday things were a lot better. We have another rest day tomorrow, so I think going into next week we’ll be much closer to 100% and I’m excited for week two now that I’m feeling a lot more like myself', the rider told in a team statement.
It should be noted that in statements to the race website and just after the end of the stage, Sanders reinforced his stomach problems: '[...] We got to switch off the brain and try to eat a little bit, get the energy levels back up. I'm still fighting this stomach bud a little bit [...]'.