Despres ready for Dakar!
Frenchman Cyril Despres won the terrible Los Andes extreme enduro in Chile last weekend. The Los Andes, which took place in the Andes mountains, just outside the Chilean capital Santiogo, was in its first edition. Of course, the race was also the ideal seasoning for the Dakar, which has been traveling through South America since this year! The KTM rider was second in the 'mother of all rally raids' last year, but seems ready for revenge! Chile will also feature extensively in the 2010 Dakar. Aprilia factory rider and local hero Francisco 'Chaleco' Lopez finished third in this one-day race.
Cyril Despres: “The Red Bull Los Andes has everything it takes to become one of the best extreme enduros in the world. All the ingredients are there: a fantastic environment, a lot of media attention and an enthusiastic audience. After the chaos of the start I was seventh. I then used the first lap as a reconnaissance lap so that I knew where I could overtake.
On the second lap I went on the attack and took the lead on one of the huge climbs. I eventually finished in 1 hour and 36 minutes, 4 minutes ahead of Nicolas Urrutia. With the Dakar coming up, I am very satisfied with my feeling on the bike. The Los Andes was also very demanding physically because we constantly rode between 2000 and 2800 meters.” Despres won the Dakar in 2005 and 2007.
Photos credit: KTM
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