Intro:

Jordan's Salameh Al Aqra victorious on day two of stage four of the Marathon des Sables on Thursday.

Script:

Day two of the fourth stage of the 2014 Marathon des Sables saw the competitors on an 81.5-kilometre journey from Ba Hallou to Rich Merzoug.

After a particularly gruelling race Salameh Al Aqra crossed the finish line first in the fading light of dusk.

Al Aqra finished with an impressive time of seven hours and 14 minutes.

The Jordanian ran the perfect race at a good pace to get ahead of his great rival Moroccan Rachid El Morabity - and take the stage victory by over 20 minutes.

Further back, Portuguese runner Carlos Sa claimed a surprise third place.

The result means that El Morabity leads the overall classification, with a total time of 16 hours, 53 minutes and 55 seconds.

Al Aqra is nine minutes and 24 seconds off the pace in second - with Mohamad Ahansal in third, around 10 minutes further back.