Image gallery: The 2016 Dakar Rally in 30 photographs

The Dakar Rally is one of the toughest rallies in the world. Every year, contestants from all around, and from various breeds of racing, make their way to South America in hopes of checking "complete the Dakar" or "win the Dakar"  off their bucket list. This year, Stephane Peterhansel in a Peugeot 2008 DKR, checked "win 12th Dakar title" off his list. Toby Price on the other hand, took his first Dakar win this year on his KTM 450.

The Dakar Rally takes participants through the most diverse terrains in the toughest of conditions. On one day, the participants would find themselves in loose sand under the scorching sun, while on the next day, they would be in the cold mountains with barely any oxygen to breathe. To truly know what the Dakar is, one must physically be there at the event. But since that's not an option for everyone, here's a glimpse of the Dakar Rally in images.

Carlos Sainz driving from Belen to La Rioja in Stage 10 of the Dakar

Sebastien Loeb is towed by teammate, Cyril Despres, in Stage 11 of the rally. This stage took participants from La Rioja to San Juan

Russian, Andrey Karginov from Team Kamaz Master, on Stage 11

Yamaha Racing Team's Marcos Patronelli, the overall winner of the quad category, races ahead

Stephane Peterhansel battles the dunes in Stage 10 of the Dakar

Orlen X-Raid Team's Jakub Przygonski makes his way across the endless desert that stretches ahead

Stephane Peterhansel and Ton Van Genugten crossing paths on Stage 10

Spanish WRC driver, Carlos Sainz on Stage 9 of the Dakar, near Belen in Argentina

Antoine Meo, a four-time enduro world champion, making progress on Stage 10

Dmitry Sotnikov from Russia continues onward as the two Americans, Sheldon Creed and Jonah Street, hurry to fix their vehicle up

Stephane Peterhansel making quite a splash on Stage 7

Cyril Despres has a close call on Stage 6 of the Dakar

Sebastien Loeb made quick progress through the WRC-like stages

Honda's Brabec Ricky in action during Stage 12 of the Dakar

Spaniard, Laia Sanz shows off a little on her KTM 450

Gerard De Rooy won the truck category in his Powerstar Iveco

KTM's Toby Price (3) races with Honda's Kevin Benavides (47) in Stage 11

Stage 10 got very tricky with plenty of dunes and loose sand

A missing front end wasn't enough to stop Nasser Al-Attiyah from finishing second in his category at the Dakar

Eduard Nikolaev's Kamaz truck is dwarfed by the vast desert