PARIS, France -- French motorcycle rider Richard Sainct, who won the Paris-Dakar rally three times, has been killed in a crash in the Pharaohs Rally in Egypt.
The 34-year-old crashed twice in the fourth stage of the race on Wednesday, with the second accident proving fatal, according to media reports.
"I can confirm only that Richard died. We don't have any more details," said a race spokesman, who added that Sainct had been taken to hospital by helicopter but was dead on arrival.
An Egyptian security official said Sainct's motorcycle overturned around 90km east of Siwa oasis.
The official added that three other contestants were injured in the accident and two of them had been transported to a hospital near Cairo for treatment.
Sainct, who rode for KTM, won the Paris-Dakar rally in 1999, 2000 and 2003. He won his first honours by becoming French endurance champion in 1989, and won the Pharaohs Rally in 2002, the Atlas Rally in 1997 and 1998 and the Tunisia rally in 1998 and 1999.
His KTM team withdrew from the race after his death.