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/ 7 November 2006
New Zealand coach Graham Henry on Tuesday made 10 changes to the team that beat England when he named his side to take on France in the first of two Tests in Lyon on Saturday. His decision to ring the changes from the side who outplayed the reigning world champions 41-20 at Twickenham had been widely anticipated.
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/ 16 January 2006
France’s Luc Alphand, driving a Mitsubishi, improved on his runners-up spot last year to win the Dakar Rally following the 15th and final stage in Dakar on Sunday ahead of South Africa’s Giniel de Villiers and Nani Roma of Spain. Alphand, the 1997 overall World Cup skiing champion, said afterwards: ”This was definitely the most exciting Dakar Rally that I have been involved in.”
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/ 15 January 2006
The Dakar Rally suffered its third fatality in six days on Saturday but the gruelling event’s race director insisted it’s as safe as it’s possible to make it. A 12-year-old boy died after being hit by an assistance lorry on the 14th and penultimate stage as the two-week race headed to the Senegalese capital. On Friday, Boubacar Diallo (10) ran into the path of a competing car in Guinea and was killed.
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/ 12 January 2006
South African Giniel de Villiers, driving a Volkswagen, won the 11th stage in the Dakar Rally in Bamako, Mali, on Wednesday, and KTM’s Mali-born French rider Alain Duclos became the first competitor from black Africa to win a stage when he won the motorcycle section.
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/ 11 January 2006
Spain’s double world rally champion Carlos Sainz won the 10th stage of the Dakar Rally on Tuesday for his fourth victory on his debut appearance in the famous race. Sainz completed the 283km timed section from Kiffa, Mauritania, in three hours, 28 minutes and 34 seconds.
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/ 10 January 2006
French title holder Cyril Despres, riding a KTM, on Monday broke through the pain barrier of a recently dislocated collarbone to win the ninth stage of the Dakar Rally, which was marred by the death of Australian rival Andy Caldecott. The car stage was won by Frenchman and defending champion Stephane Peterhansel.
In its 28-year history, the Dakar Rally has criss-crossed most of North Africa, but the gruelling event is still waiting for an African competitor to take the race by storm. Only 12 African competitors were at the start line in Lisbon on December 31 for the start of the 2006 edition. In 2005, it had been 18.
Spain’s former two-time world rally champion Carlos Sainz captured his third stage of the Dakar Rally in Morocco on Tuesday to regain the overall lead. The 43-year-old Volkswagen driver won the fourth stage in three hours, 52 minutes and 48 seconds to lead overall by 4:51 from Frenchman Bruno Saby and by 5:09 from German Jutta Kleinschmidt.
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/ 30 December 2005
France’s Stephane Peterhansel and Hiroshi Masuoka of Japan are overwhelming favourites to maintain Mitsubishi’s stranglehold on the Dakar Rally when the 28th edition of the race starts in Lisbon on Saturday. Peterhansel has clinched the last two to add to his six victories in the motorcycle section while Masuoka was the winner in 2002 and 2003.