Spanish rider Falcon dies after Dakar Rally crash

Spanish motorcycle rider Carles Falcon has died more than a week after crashing in the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia, his team said on Monday.

Falcon, 45, had been in an induced coma since he was flown to hospital in Riyadh, and then back to Spain, after falling 448km into the second stage on January 7 from Al Henakiyah to Al Duwadimi.

Race director David Castera told reporters at the time that the rider, who was competing in the endurance event for the second time after finishing 68th in 2022, had lacked a pulse but was resuscitated by the first doctor to arrive on the scene.

"Carles has left us. The medical team has confirmed that the neurological damage caused by the cardiorespiratory arrest at the time of the accident is irreversible," the TwinTrail Racing team said in a statement on Instagram.

"Carles was a smiling person, always active, who passionately enjoyed everything he did, especially motorbikes. He has left us doing something that was his dream, racing the Dakar."

Dakar organisers expressed their condolences to his family and friends.

"It was with great sadness that we learned of the death of Spanish rider Carles Falcon from his family," they said in a statement.

Falcon, from Tarragona, was competing in the unassisted bikers category.

The gruelling event, being held entirely in Saudi Arabia for the fifth time, has claimed many lives since the first Paris-Dakar rally was held in 1978. Falcon was the 33rd competitor to die, but first since 2022.

Last year's only fatality was a 69-year-old Italian spectator, Livio Sassinotti, who was hit by a truck while taking photographs behind a sand dune.