Yamaha endure mixed fortunes on penultimate Dakar stage

Enjoying a good feeling aboard his Yamaha, Xavier de Soultrait was able to control his pace on Wednesday. Posting the 10th fastest time for the day, he moved up to fifth in the provisional overall standings. Less than eight minutes behind the rider in fourth, Xavier will do his best to move up higher in the overall during Thursday's final stage.

Adrien Van Beveren started the day determined to battle for the stage victory.
Enjoying a faultless performance for the greater part of the stage, Adrien was just one second behind the day's eventual winner at the fifth and final waypoint. Suffering a small technical issue 16km before the end of the stage, the Frenchman was left with a mountain to climb.

Putting in a heroic effort, he battled through the issue for hours but was not able to cross the finish line.