Meo wins Dakar motorcycling eighth stage

Tupiza - Frenchman Antoine Meo won the eighth special stage of the Dakar Rally between Uyuni and Tupiza in Bolivia on Sunday, but his compatriot Adrien van Beveren retained the motorcycle overall lead.

Meo, riding a KTM, won for the second time in the race taking the 498-kilometre stage in 5hr 24min 1sec.

American Ricky Brabec was second on a Honda 1min 8sec back and another KTM rider, Australian Toby Price was third.

Van Beveren, who rides a Yamaha, lost 8min 44sec but remains 22 seconds ahead of Argentine Kevin Benavides in the overall standings.

Organsiers have cancelled Monday's scheduled ninth stage from Tupiza to Salta in Argentina due to poor weather.

"The stage is cancelled because there's a lot of water in the bivouac today, and tomorrow we're expecting some storms as well. These are not the best conditions to hold the stage," the rally's sporting director Marc Coma told AFP.

"We prefer not to take any risks," he added.