CORDOBA, Argentina (AP) — Defending champion Carlos Sainz won the first stage of the Dakar Rally, covering the 138-mile course in 2 hours, 18 minutes, 32 seconds Sunday.
Sainz’s Volkswagen was 1:31 ahead of second-place Stephane Peterhansel in a BMW and 2:16 in front of Volkswagen teammate Nasser Al Attiyah.
Ruben Farina of Portugal took the stage in the bike category, clocking 1:58:02. He was 29 seconds ahead of defending champion Cyril Despres and had a 1:15 lead on Marc Coma, the 2009 champion.
Sunday’s first stage from Victoria to Corboda in northern Argentina followed the ceremonial ride from Buenos Aires to Victoria on opening day. Officials said 407 contestants started the race Sunday, down from the 430 who were enrolled on Saturday.
