Image Gallery: The first three stages of the 2019 Dakar Rally in pictures

Team OD Published: January 11, 2019, 12:53 AM IST

The 2019 edition of the Dakar Rally has seen ups and downs in the first three stages of the rally. From high profile retirements, to near misses, and upsets to the leaderboard, we've seen it all already. Here's a look at the first three stages of the rally in photographs.

Joan Barreda Bort - seen airborne on his way to victory in Stage 1. Bort retired from the rally on the third stage, while still in the lead of the Moto category. Getting stuck 300km off the right track, in tricky terrain took a toll on the rider, putting an end to his attempt at the Dakar.

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in the Peugeot 3008 of the PH-Sport navigating in the dust during stage 3 of the Dakar Rally, between San Juan de Marcona and Arequipa, Peru. Loeb won the second stage of the Dakar, but ended up losing time during Stage 3, and was ultimately ranked eighth overall in the category.

Sam Sunderland on his KTM of the Red Bull KTM Factory Team navigating in the dust during stage 3 of the Dakar Rally. The 2017 Dakar winner is currently ranked third overall in the Moto category of the event.

Nasser Al-Attiyah (QAT) of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA won the opening stage of the Dakar Rally, something that Carlos Sainz said immediately put the Qatari driver in the running for the overall win. He is currently in the overall lead of the Cars category after three stages of rallying.

Defending champion Matthias Walkner on his KTM of the Red Bull KTM Factory Team navigating in the dust during stage 3 of the Dakar Rally. Walkner, who won the second stage of the event, is currently ranked eighth overall.

Andrey Karginov, Andrey Mokeev and Igor Leonov in the Kamaz of the KAMAZ Master Team. Their win on Stage 3 of the rally ended up tightening the battle within the team. However, Eduard Nikolaev still leads overall in the truck category.

Jakub Przygonski at the Stage 3 of the 2019 Dakar Rally. The Orlen XRaid Mini driver finished Stage 3 third.

Ignacio Casale (CHL) of Casale Racing finished 14th in Stage 3 in the SxS category, putting him 11th overall. Casale has taken part in the Dakar in the Truck category, in the Moto category, astride Quads, winning twice in 2014 and 2018. This is his first year in the SxS class.

68th in Stage 3, and 40th overall for Giniel de Villiers (ZAF) of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA at Dakar 2019 so far.

This is the reason for that low overall position in the Dakar for Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz. Here they are repairing their in the Toyota on Stage 3. They were the overall leaders after Stage 2 of the Dakar.

Cyril Despres and Jean-Paul Cottret in the Mini of the X-Raid Mini JCW Team pictured here discussing route options with Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in the Peugeot 3008 of the PH-Sport team during Stage 3 of the Dakar 2019

Hero MotoSports rider CS Santosh powering through Stage 3 of Dakar 2019. Santosh had the wrong visor on, making visibility a challenge during the stage.

A couple of falls made things all the more difficult for Indian rider CS Santosh. After three stages of rallying, Santosh was ranked 42nd in the Moto category.

Defending champion Carlos Sainz of the X-Raid Mini JCW Team pictured here after a crash during Stage 3 of the Dakar Rally. This resulted in a 65th position finish in the stage, and 36th position overall in the Car category.

Here is a crowd of Carlos Sainz supporters stopped to help the two-time Dakar winner. Popular man in Peru, clearly!

Nothing screams Dakar quite like a big blue Kamaz leaping out of the sand. Here Andrey Karginov (RUS) of Team KAMAZ-Master is in a hurry to get to stage end during the third stage of Dakar 2019.