Enduro
Graham Jarvis snatches Red Bull Sea to Sky win
The Brit stages a dramatic come from behind victory over Wade Young and Mario Román to take his fifth win in the Turkish hard enduro race.
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Etching his name further and further in hard enduro folklore, Graham Jarvis claimed his fifth victory at Red Bull Sea to Sky in Kemer, Turkey.
In what proved a close battle to the top of the Olympus Mountain, Jarvis passed both Wade Young and Mario Román within sight of the chequered flag to snatch a dramatic win from the Sherco team-mates.
Watch all of the action from the Red Bull Sea to Sky Mountain Race. in the video below.
4 min
Graham Jarvis wins Red Bull Sea to Sky 2017
Watch all the action from the Red Bull Sea to Sky Mountain Race.
"Incredible, absolutely an incredible feeling to get my fifth Sea to Sky win," said Jarvis at the finish. "That was easily my greatest victory in this race – I had to work hard from the bottom to the top of the mountain."
With the riders blasting off the start line on the Turkish shoreline at 9am, it was the Sherco duo of Young and Román who initially set the pace, with Román taking the early lead.
Román and Young went bar-to-bar in the final
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For the first half of the race the duo held station out front, as Jarvis worked his way forwards after a slow start.
As they headed towards the mountain, Jarvis meticulously closed the gap to the Sherco pairing and then suddenly, when it mattered most, he was in contention for the win.
The penultimate climb, new for 2017, became the decider of the race as the trio entered it neck-and-neck. Jarvis found the hot line and cleared it first, before making short work of the final rock face to grab the race win.
With second still for the taking, Young and Román went bar-to-bar in the final few minutes.
Alfredo Gómez just missed the podium
© Lukasz Nazdraczew/Red Bull Content Pool
Exhausted but determined, they battled their way across the final rock step, with Román snatching second from Young in the dying moments of the race.
That was an incredible battle from start to finish. We were pushing hard the whole race
"Graham joined us at the finish and he just beat us across the line, but I knew I could still get second," said Román after recovering his breath. "Wade made a mistake and I found a way through. It's my first time here, too so to come out with the runner-up result is awesome."
Billy Bolt settled for fifth place
© Lukasz Nazdraczew/Red Bull Content Pool
Dropping from first to third within the final 500m of the 72-kilometre long race, Young was naturally disappointed with the final result.
I gave it everything I had out there. I left nothing on the table, I just got unlucky at the end
"It's been a hard race, one of the toughest battles here at Sea to Sky. I'd have loved the win, but it wasn't to be."
Behind the top three, Alfredo Gómez crossed the line in fourth, having worked overtime to recover from a slow start.
"I had a bad start and when I got to fourth, the other guys were too far in front," said Gómez. "I felt good today, I just had a little bad luck and then ran out of time."
Your Red Bull Sea to Sky 2017 podium
© Future7Media
Completing the top five, Billy Bolt put in a solid ride to finish his first Red Bull Sea to Sky. Riding back and forth with Jonny Walker, Bolt passed his fellow Brit on the penultimate climb to claim his top five result.
With Walker sixth, Lars Enöckl completed the top seven.
Red Bull Sea to Sky 2017 results
- Graham Jarvis (GBR) 3h 45m 38s
- Mario Román (ESP) 3h 47m 00s
- Wade Young (RSA) 3h 47m 20s
- Alfredo Gómez(ESP) 3h 52m 39s
- Billy Bolt (GBR) 3h 54m 26s
- Jonny Walker (GBR) 3h 55m 54s
- Lars Enöckl (AUT) 3h 59m 52s
- Paul Bolton (GBR) 4h 4m 33s
- Pol Tarrés (ESP) 4h 12m 54s
- Xavi León (ESP) 4h 18m 8s
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