INTREPID motorbikers Steven Rogers and Kurt Luby believe that they fell foul of one of the Dakar Rally's toughest ever courses after they bowed out of the race within hours of each other.

The two riders were forced to quit the 26th running of the annual 17-stage rally from France to Senegal after both crashed their Honda XR650 bikes in north Africa on day seven.

Kurt, aged 40, from Stoneclough, was airlifted to hospital after a serious accident in Mauritania, en route from Tan Tan to Atar.

Doctors feared that he had broken a bone in his back, but later discovered that he was suffering from a compressed vertebrae. He has now returned home.

Steven, aged 32, from Farnworth, was knocked unconscious when he was flipped over the handlebars of his bike after hitting a rock.

He managed to drag himself to the end of the stage, but had to give up early on day eight because of rib and back injuries sustained in the crash.

Even then, getting home turned out to be an adventure in itself for Steven, who is the manager and licensee of Bolton Snooker Club.

Having given up on day eight, he returned to the beginning of the stage in Atar to find that the rally's support teams had left for the next venue.

So he was forced to ride alone more than 900 miles back through Morocco before crossing to Spain - a journey which took him just over a day to complete - before dumping his bike at a friend's garage and flying home from Malaga.

It marked the end of Steven and Kurt's bid to finish the race, which began on New Year's Day in the Auvergne region of central France and is due to finish in Dakar this Sunday at the end of a route which takes in deserts, villages, rocky terrain and a tropical forest.

Steven, who has competed in the race twice before, believes that the organisers have made this year's rally too tough.

He said: "It was very difficult this year. The race has been out of most people's league. Soon after we retired, the organisers stopped the race for two days because they said they were worried about bandits on the route.

"I don't know about bandits, but it's probably just as well they did have a break in the race anyway, otherwise there might not have been anyone who finished it. Only about a quarter of the competitors who started are still going.

"I think the organisers went too far this year with the route they picked. They tagged another 200km (around 125 miles) on to every stage."

But despite failing to finish the race for a third time - he also took part in a Land Rover in 2001 and 2002 - Steven has returned with plenty of fond memories.

"I'm feeling a bit sore," he said. "But I've no regrets whatsoever. This was the first time I had attempted the race on a motorbike, and the first time I had competed on my own without a navigator, so it was a steep learning curve.

"But I found the race much easier on a bike than in a car, because I didn't have so many repairs to do."