RIYADH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- Argentine rider Luciano Benavides won Stage 7 of the Dakar Rally on Sunday.

Benavides completed the 459-kilometer special stage in four hours, winning by 4 minutes and 47 seconds over Edgar Canet and by 4 minutes and 57 seconds over Adrien Van Beveren, who delivered his best performance since the rally started in Yanbu.

The KTM rider remained third overall, 15 seconds behind Ricky Brabec. It was Benavides' seventh Dakar stage win.

The top three overall remained unchanged, with Daniel Sanders holding the lead. However, his third-place finish on Sunday means he will start earlier on Monday than Brabec, who sits 4:25 behind and will start Stage 8 in 10th position, 21 minutes after the Australian.

Rider Michael Docherty again challenged the RallyGP field, finishing fifth on the stage to Wadi Ad-Dawasir and also collecting his fifth stage win in the category.

After the rest day, Stage 7 took the Dakar Rally from Riyadh to Wadi Ad-Dawasir, featuring a 459-kilometer timed special and a 418-kilometer liaison. ■