Britain's Sam Sunderland got the defence of his Dakar motorcycling title off to a winning start on Saturday when he won the opening stage of the 9,000km race from Lima to Pisco.

Sunderland, on a KTM, finished ahead of France's Adrien Van Beveren, on a Yamaha, and Pablo Quintanilla of Chile on a Husqvarna.

The British rider finished the 31km desert sprint in 20 min 56 sec with his rivals 32 sec and 55 sec further back.

The second stage of the two-week event takes place in and around the town of Pisco on Sunday.

Source: AFP