Overview
- A 23-kilometer prologue in Yanbu opened the event and set the start order, with 20-year-old Edgar Canet winning the bike classification to become the youngest Dakar stage winner as Luciano Benavides placed fourth.
- Ford led the premier car class as Mattias Ekström topped the Ultimate division ahead of teammate Mitch Guthrie, with Mini’s Guillaume de Mevius next best.
- Brock Heger won SSV, Mitchel Van den Brink led the trucks, and Sara Price took the Stock category ahead of Stéphane Peterhansel, while Argentina’s Benjamín Pascual headed the Mission 1000 electric-bike field.
- The itinerary features two marathon stages without outside assistance, a rest day in Riyadh on January 10, the longest day on January 11 at nearly 900 kilometers with 462 timed, a mass start on Stage 8, and the finish back in Yanbu on January 17.
- Stage 1 on January 4 is a 305-kilometer special around Yanbu over rock-strewn terrain after recent rains, including a mandatory tire-change pit stop.