British rider Graham Jarvis came from behind to win the main event of Red Bull Sea to Sky 2014 in Kemer, Turkey. The dominator of the past years battled back to overtake rival Jonny Walker, who came in second. Germany’s Andreas “Letti” Lettenbichler took third place.
KEMER (Turkey) – As in previous years, Race Day #3 at the 2014 edition of Red Bull Sea to Sky saw the riders line up in rows of ten according to the results of the previous day’s Forest Race for the start of the main event taking the record-breaking field of 214 competitors quite literally from “Sea to Sky”, from Kemer beach on the Turkish Riviera to the top of Tahtali Mountain at 2365m.
Roughly half of the track had been redesigned for this year’s event, with new sections added to make the course even longer and tougher. Cheered on by huge crowds, it was 18-year-old Wade Young from South Africa who took the holeshot and raced into an early lead. However, the youngster was passed by the 2013 Red Bull Sea to Sky winner Jonny Walker on the first riverbed section.
Another former winner, Graham Jarvis, had a bad start and found himself down in sixth position after the first corner. However, the 39-year-old managed to pass the German Andreas Lettenbichler in the riverbed and then pounced on a mistake by fellow Brit Paul Bolton to close the gap on Taylor Robert, who had won the Beach Race on Race Day #1 of Red Bull Sea to Sky.
At the head of the race, Jonny Walker’s lead was slowly but surely melting away. After losing out to Walker in the Erzbergrodeo, Red Bull Romaniacs and Red Bull Sea to Sky in 2013, Jarvis was determined to finally beat his long-term rival. This time there was no stopping Jarvis, who caught Walker and followed him for about 15 minutes before capitalising on a slip by his younger rival to move into the lead and power on to victory at the top of Tahtali Mountain. Third place went to Lettenbichler, who overtook Wade Young on the final 300 metres to finally get a podium result at Red Bull Sea to Sky after suffering bad luck in Turkey for the last three years.
“After my poor start I had to play it cool and calm down. I just tried to focus on my own race and learn from the mistakes of last year. I must have followed Jonny for a good 15 minutes, but then he made a mistake and I passed him. It’s a fantastic feeling,” commented Jarvis.
Meanwhile, a frustrated Jonny Walker showed good sportsmanship in defeat: “Graham caught me in the Dark Canyon and we changed places a few times. I made a mistake, he pulled away and there was nothing I could really do about it. I’m certainly disappointed, but he rode really well and massive congratulations to him.”
Top 10 Results – Mountain Race – Red Bull Sea to Sky 2014
1. Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) – 2 hours 43 minutes 20 seconds
2. Jonny Walker (KTM) – 2:44:49
3. Andreas Lettenbichler (KTM) – 2:54:30
4. Wade Young (KTM) – 2:54:40
5. Paul Bolton (KTM) – 2:57:21
6. Taylor Robert (KTM) – 2:59:09
7. Travis Teasdale (KTM) – 2:59:58
8. Blake Gutzeit (Husqvarna) – 3:10:00
9. Dougie Lampkin (KTM) – 3:10:56
10. Alfredo Gomez (Husqvarna) – 3:11:34
Photo credit:Lukasz Nazdraczew/redbull
