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Dakar 2026 Stage 1 Results: Canet Takes 2nd Stage Win As Guillaume de Mevius Snatches Win In Cars
The first stage of Dakar 2026 saw KTM rider Edgar Canet take his second stage win at the 48th edition of the world's toughest rally-raid. In the car's category, X-Raid's Guillaume de Mevius took the win in the cars category. .
The first stage of Dakar 2026 saw drivers and riders cover a 518km loop around the Saudi port city of Yanbu on the Red Sea coast, which included a 305km long timed special stage. Competitors faced both rocky and sandy terrain as they raced across the Saudi Arabian desert. The stage also saw a pit stop halfway through, which allowed competitors to fuel up and repair their vehicles.
Dakar 2026 Stage 1 Results - Bikes
Stage in the bikes category of Dakar 2026 was won by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing's Spanish rider Edgar Canet. The 20-year-old repeated his prologue stage brilliance, smashing through the special stage in a time of three hours, 16 minutes and 11 seconds.
Canet outpaced his teammate and defending Dakar Champion Daniel "Chucky" Sanders by one minute and two seconds. The Aussie rider finishing the stage in three hours, 17 minutes and 13 seconds as he claimed the second spot for the second stage in a row.
Rounding off the podium again was Honda's two-time Dakar champion (2020, 2024) Ricky Brabec. The American rider ended the stage one minute and 32 seconds behind Canet with a time of three hours, 17 minutes and 43 seconds
Honda's Tosha Schareina took fourth place, ending the stage with a time of three hours and 18 minutes. He was one minute and 49 seconds off the pace set by his fellow countryman Canet. KTM's Argentinian rider Luciano Benavides took the 5th spot, ending the day three minutes and 47 seconds.
Chilean rider Ignacio "Nacho" Cornejo was the highest ranked of the three Hero riders at the end of the stage 1 of Dakar 2026. Nacho ended the stage with a time of three hours, 19 minutes and 59 seconds, three minutes and 48 seconds behind Canet.
Hero's Botswanian rider Ross Branch, finished the day in 7th place, with a time of three hours, 20 minutes and 50 seconds, four minutes and 39 seconds behind Canet. The Kalahari Ferrari was actually the fastest rider of the day but was hit with a six minute time penalty for speeding.
The final Hero rider at Dakar 2026, Austria's Tobias Ebster ended the day in 14th overall (4th in the Rally2 category) with a time of three hours, 29 minutes and 37 seconds. Ebster ended the stage, 13 minutes and 26 seconds behind Canet in the overall rankings and is four minutes and 28 seconds off the pace in the Rally 2 category, which is currently lead by BAS KTM's Michael Docherty.
Privateer Jatin Jain, ended the day as thehighest ranked Indian rider at Dakar 2026, ending the day in 109th place with a time of six hours 36 minutes and one second. TVS-sponsored Sherco rider Harith Noah, ended the day in 113th place, with a 14 and half hour penalty to his name, which does suggest that he must have to retire his bike. However, details about what happened to cause this are still not available.
Dakar 2025 Stage 1 Results - Cars
Stage 1 of Dakar 2025 saw X-Raid's Belgian driver Guillaume de Mévius and his French navigator, Mathieu Baumel snatch victory at the last moment with the pair bringing their Mini across the finish line in a time of three hours, seven minutes and 49 seconds.
Second place was claimed by five time Dakar champion Nasser Al-Attiyah (Fabian Lurquin - Navigator) with the Dacia driver, ending the stage just 40 seconds behind the stage winner de Mévius.
The final podium spot up for grabs for stage 1 of Dakar 2026 was taken by Czech privateer (Orlen Jipocar Team) duo of Martin Prokop and Iktor Chytka (Navigator) in their Ford Raptor T1+. Prokop ended the stage, one minute and 27 seconds behind the Mini of de Mévius after the 518km first stage of Dakar 2026.
Factory Ford racer Mattias Ekstrom (Emil Bergkvist - Navigator) lead the stage for most of the day, He took the lead of the stage after the second checkpoint and lead for most of the stage before falling like a stone at the end of the stage. Ekstrom ended the day in 4th place, one minute and 38 seconds behind de Mévius.
The top 5 in the cars category was rounded off by another set of privateer's with Energylandia Rally Team's Polish duo of Marek Goczal and Maciej Marton (Navigator) bringing their Toyota Hilux (they were the highest ranked Toyota car today) across the line with the same time as Esktrom's Ford.
Tomorrow will see Dakar 2026 finally head away from Yanbu. Competitors will north on a 504km long journey to the oasis city of AlUla. Stage 2 of Dakar 2026 includes a 400km long special stage which will mostly include hilly and rocky terrain along with the usual sands of the Saudi Arabian desert.
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