Peterhansel keeps Dakar title hopes alive

Stephane Peterhansel kept his hopes of a 12th Dakar Rally title alive, arriving in Iquique ahead of Nasser Al-Attiyah to win stage nine. The Frenchman, who has won six Dakar titles on a bike and five in a car, was quickest over the 422km stage from Calama in the mountains down to the Pacific Ocean. Peterhansel now trails leader Nani Roma by just 12.10 minutes, having crossed the line on Tuesday in four hours 17.53 minutes to record his third stage win this year. Tuesday's stage saw the racers have to deal with multiple changes in surface, while also having to cross 150km of dunes in the Atacama Desert before making their way down to the coast. Al-Attiyah was in contention to win back-to-back stages in Chile, but ultimately finished over two minutes adrift of Peterhansel and had to be content with moving up the overall rankings to fourth. Mini made it a 1-2-3 on the podium with Roma's third-place finish, the Spaniard more than 11 minutes off the pace, while Orlando Terranova and Giniel De Villiers made up the top five. Roma continues to lead the overall standings but needs to raise his performances in the closing stages if he is to take the title, with Peterhansel closing in fast after four straight top-three finishes.