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They're only in the first days of the race, but this Dakar 2025 has already a lot to tell. To spice up the competion, the organizers decided to move the infamous 48-hour special up to the first week. Added to this edition's program as the second stage, it forced competitors in the Moto class to tackle a timed course of 947 km over two days and to spend the night in one of the bare temporary bivouacs set up along the route, assuming they managed to reach one in time.
Last year, Cesare Zacchetti had experienced the thrill of spending a night alone among the desert dunes, covered by sand under a sky cloaked in stars. A night that was perhaps more poetic but certainly no less evocative than Iader Giraldi's, protagonist of a daring first part of the stage conquered by Daniel Sanders.
Giraldi's adventure
"Mamma mia. Mamma Mia. What a day. First thing, the news. It's officia,l I'm still in the race. We start at 6:45 a.m. I'm now at the refueling station at km 413. It's 5 a.m., and I'm stretching, or I won't be able to start," the 52-year-old from Faenza wrote on social media, reassuring everyone about his condition and writing abaout the incredible adventures from which he was returning.
"Like a movie today. I'm fine. I stopped for half an hour to help a rider who was in bad shape. I lost the riders and navigating alone was difficult," he said. "Mountains of stones with no trail I had to totally navigate. Then came the night in the high dunes. At that point, a camel herder threatened us with a machine gun while we were near his camels and we lost track. There were three of us. I don't even remember their names, but we're brothers. We did 40 km of dunes in the dark, retrieving 2 other losers. One without gas. Another without lights. It was crazy but, at the same time, a feat. I spend the night here at the gas station with 20 or 30 other desperate people. We'll try tomorrow, but it's almost impossible with 670 km of special. I leave at 6:45 a.m. and will make another night of it. But I'm not alone. That's the strength of this race. It amazes you every time, like you amaze yourself. Today is also a good day. Today is also a lucky day."
