Marc Coma comes to life in third stage of Dakar

Spanish rider Marc Coma on a KTM won the third stage of the Dakar Rally yesterday, cutting into the overall lead in the bike category of defending champion Cyril Despres of France.

Coma, the 2009 champion, finished the stage in northern Argentina in 4 hours, 18 minutes, 55 seconds - 2:21 ahead of Despres. That left Despres, the 2010 champion, with only a 14-second lead going into today, when the rally crosses into Chile.

"That was a really authentic Dakar day: The first part with lots of navigation, then more riding on the rest. I'm happy with where I am," said Coma.

In cars, Nasser Al-Attiyah of Qatar took the stage in 3:42:20, edging Volkswagen team-mate Carlos Sainz by 25 seconds.

Defending champion Sainz kept the overall lead, 3:34 ahead of Al-Attiyah and 4:19 in front of Stephane Peterhansel.