The Red Bull KTM rider made up ground relative to the overall lead in the two most recent stages but is still exactly 27 minutes away from top spot with six stages remaining.

Furthermore, with three Honda riders and Hero’s Ross Branch in front of him, it appears that Price needs misfortune to strike multiple rivals in order to threaten for victory next Friday.

“The first week’s been pretty average for me,” he admitted.

“But, we’re still within reach a little bit, but definitely didn’t want to be this far back in the first week.

“All in all, we’re still on two wheels, still in the race, everything feels good from a body and the bike.

“We’ll see what the second week brings now.”

Price does at least have some momentum on his side now, having finished third and then second in the most recent stages, the latter of which was a ’48-hour’ affair which saw riders camp overnight with no assistance before resuming the following morning.

“The marathon stage has definitely been a little tougher than we thought it was going to be,” said the Australian.

“It was such a long day yesterday – we did about 513km in the dunes and raced for around six hours and 40 minutes.

“At the bivouac, we were just given a sleeping bag, a tent, a small box of food rations, and tried to get some sleep.

“Today was good – just 112km– and it felt great to reach the finish line. We all deserve our rest day, that’s for sure.”

Compatriot Daniel Sanders has also mounted a small recovery in the last three days.

The Red Bull GasGas rider is seventh in the general classification, 35:50s off the pace, ahead of the rest day and then the second week of action.

“Together, stages 6a and 6b were very long,” said Sanders.

“Yesterday was definitely a tough one and afterwards I didn’t get much food or sleep.

“Luckily, I got a fair way through the stage yesterday, so it was a quick sprint to finish today which wasn’t too bad.

“I’m happy to make it to the finish line and looking forward to the rest day. It looks like week two will be just as hard, so we’ll see how we go.”