Dakar 2010 Stage 12 San Juan to San Rafael

There was so much confusion with Stage 11, I've been sitting back and chilling a little bit and I feel like asking the worn out cliche question "Who's on first?" Something about an Argentine policeman routing several riders the wrong direction, winners going to bed only to wake up and find out they're not winners because time credits were issued in their sleep and Mark Macguire finally admitted .... no, wait, that's something else. So I just stuck my fingers in my ears and sang "la la la" real loud and skipped to Stage 12. (Click here if you want to try to figure it all out)

Stage 12 (San Juan to San Rafael) promised to be a "high speed bob sleigh ride through old river canyons," 796km, which I think is the longest stage so far. Afterwards Lopez is quoted, "It was a wonderful stage and very hot at the end, a technical and tough special. I handled the bike well. It was a route that suited my machine, but it was difficult. For one of the last few stages of the Dakar, it was one of the toughest." Coma agreed it was tough and reported that the high heat gave him some engine trouble, so he slowed it down towards the end.

Marie Hessel, Dakar Blogger and the person living my dream life, finally spoke aloud the question we've all been thinking, regarding the safe, slow and steady Dakar 2010 reigning leader Cyril Despres, "Is he enjoying the ride at all?" Because of his big lead, he has been playing it safe and, shall we say "grampaw-ish." I'm glad he can do that, though, there's always too many injuries. So... Stage 12 Summary: The top 3 for the stage: Lopez, Fretigne, Ullevalseter. The top 3 overall are Despres, Lopez, and Ullevalseter.

I still want to know: is Verhoeven out? He had a broken engine 60km shy of the finish, rumors are: He's out.

Annie Seel remains #1 in the Ladies Cup, reaching the finish just 1h10:24 behind Lopez, the male stage winner for today. She's been hot on the guys' heels from the rally beginning. Overall standing in the Ladies Cup is as follows: 1 - Annie Seel, 2- Christina Meier, 3- Tamsin Jones, 4 - Silvia Giannetti.

The good news is that Luca Manca reportedly is out of the coma and recognized his father, seems to be doing better than expected.

Here's a couple of videos from various stages. - Enjoy!