Guerlain Chicherit wins 14th stage of Dakar Rally

French driver Guerlain Chicherit won the 14th stage of the Dakar Rally on Saturday as the cross-continental road-race ended its penultimate stage in Senegal. Chicherit's win in 2 hours, 36 minutes, 33 seconds was his first ever in the race. South Africa's Alfie Cox was second, 3 minutes, 13 seconds behind and Marc Miller of the United States was third, 5:07 back.

Former ski champion Luc Alphand of France maintained the overall lead at 53 hours, 47 minutes, 32 seconds. He was 17:53 ahead of South Africa's Giniel de Villiers and 1:50:38 ahead of Spain's Nani Roma. In the bike category, France's David Fretigne won Saturday in 3:16:59, with Spain's Marc Coma in second place, 33 seconds behind. Coma retained the overall lead in the motorcycle race at 55:27:17, comfortably ahead of France's Cyril Despres, who was 1:13:29 back. The course of the Dakar Rally changes slightly each year. The 2006 race is a 9,043-kilometer (5,619-mile) route from Lisbon, Portugal. More than 1,400 people are competing in cars, trucks, ATVs and motorcycles. The race ends Sunday with a 31-kilometer (19-miles) run to Lac Rose, a pink lake east of Dakar, reports the AP. N.U.