Dakar Rally once again showed its most extreme side with an accident that caused enormous concern. At the start of the tenth stage, Spanish rider Arnau Lledó lost control of his bike, a KTM 450 Rally Factory Replica, as he took a dune, was thrown off, and was left lying on the ground after a violent flight and a fall from several meters (several meters [about 6.6–16.4 feet]) high.
According to information reported by the outlet Mundo Deportivo, the accident occurred just 650 meters (650 meters [about 2,133.6 feet]) after the start of a 420-kilometer (420 kilometers [about 260.98 miles]) stage and caused his immediate withdrawal.
After the crash, the young Pedregà Team rider was initially assisted by his compatriot Edgar Canet and then by the Dakar medical team, which decided to immobilize his left leg and evacuate him as a precaution by helicopter. Minutes later, the organizers confirmed the diagnosis: fracture of the left ankle.
