It was expected, it's now official.
After leading the race almost throughout this 46th edition, Carlos Sainz has indeed won the legendary Paris Dakar rally-raid.
After losing more than an hour during Thursday's stage, Sebastien Loeb nevertheless took his place on the third step of the podium.
The Spaniard therefore won a fourth coronation, very quietly since he had a more than comfortable lead of around an hour and a half before the start of the last special.
A new victory which allows him to enter a little further into the pantheon of the Dakar: only Nasser Al-Attiyah (5 victories) and Stéphane Peterhansel (8) have won more than him.
For Sébastien Loeb, who was aiming for victory, it was a new disappointment after several second places.
More information to come...