Frenchman Cyril Despres won on Friday the seventh stage of the Dakar Rally Argentina-Chile 2010 of motorbikes, between the Chilean cities of Iquique and Antofagosta to remain atop of the standings.

Despres of the KTM team finished the stage with a total time of 6 hours, 34 minutes and 14 seconds, followed by Spaniard Marc Coma just 29 seconds behind, while Frenchman David Fregtigne arrived in third place 5 minutes later than Despres.

The stage on Friday had a distance of 600 kilometers.

After the seventh stage, Despres, winner of the Rally 2005 and 2007, leads the standings with 28 hours, 10 minutes and 13 seconds, followed by Coma at 1:06:50 behind, and Portuguese Helder Rodrigues 1:20:08 behind.

The Dakar Rally Argentina-Chile 2010 began on Jan. 1 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and moved to Chile on Tuesday.

The Rally includes a total of 9,000 kilometers and will finish on Jan. 17 in Buenos Aires, Argentina.