"Yesterday's (Sunday) stage was
starting well, great pace and
feeling good on the bike until
the refuel. Paulo [Goncalves]
took off into the stage about 5
minutes before me and the worst
case had happened. I come over
a small crest and seen a rider
down and [it] was Paulo. Worst
fears kicked in cause I knew this
one was serious. I called for help
ASAP and helped get him on his
side (plus more serious checks).
Tried calling for more help and
by this stage @stefansvitko (also
a champion) had arrived and
helping where he could. The first
helicopter arrived and @luc_al-
phand_skiator was starting to
help and as the medical helicop-
ter arrived they were already on
CPR and the doctors got to our
sides and work all they could.
Helping holding drip bags, getting
bags of medical equipment and
guiding other riders around a bad
scene. We all worked as long as
we could but there was noth-
ing we could do. I helped assist
carrying him [Goncalves] to the
helicopter as it was the right thing
to do. I was first at his side and
wanted to be the last to leave.
"We will miss you're smile
and laughter in the bivouac
#speedy. My last 250km of
special stage was tough, I'm
dehydrated from tears.
"At the moment I'm not even
worried about the result, I
couldn't care.
"Many thoughts with family
and friends on this day, we don't
start the rally day 8 for bike #8
in respect to family and friends
and the loss of a HERO. Thank
you to everyone for the mes-
sages of support worldwide,
especially Portugal with all the
kind things. We are human and
this is nothing but just a race,
I would give up all my wins to
have any of my fellow racing
mates back with us."
The 2020 Dakar Rally is set to
resume on Tuesday, January 14
with Stage Nine. Remain up to
date with the action by visiting our
continuing Dakar coverage on
CycleNews.com. CN
IN
THE
WIND
P38
Toby Price's rally
has seen the highs
of stage wins and
the terrible low of a
fatal crash.
