From Mediterranean Sand to the Summit of Tahtalı
Sea to Sky 2026 Brings 370 Riders, 36 Countries, and a Mountain Comeback to Kemer
Thursday belonged to the beach.
At Kındıl Beach in Kemer, on Türkiye’s Mediterranean coast, motorcycles worked through deep sand, tires, logs, and rocks before twelve riders lined up for a five-lap final. Britain’s Mitch Brightmore took the win ahead of Bulgaria’s Teodor Kabakchiev and South Africa’s James Moore.
Championship leader Manuel Lettenbichler finished fifth.
There were still two days—and an entire mountain—to go.
The 17th Sea to Sky brought 370 riders from 36 countries to Kemer for an October 7–10 program, with three days of championship racing beginning on Thursday. The seventh and penultimate round of the FIM Hard Enduro World Championship would take the field from the Mediterranean shoreline to the 2,365-meter summit of Tahtalı, with a world title still in play.
Before any of that, though, there had been time for the Mediterranean on its own terms: a yacht party ahead of the racing, followed by an evening celebration ashore.
Soon enough, the holiday setting would become considerably harder work.
Three Days, Three Different Worlds
Friday took the race beneath the trees.
Over a 40-kilometer forest course above Kemer, Kabakchiev caught and passed Brightmore to set the fastest time. Moore finished second, Brightmore third.
For Lettenbichler, the day brought brake trouble, then a 10-minute penalty for a refueling-procedure infringement. He dropped to 15th. Mario Román received the same penalty and fell to 14th.
The mountain now offered both men a chance to recover—but no easy way to do it.
Saturday’s 64-kilometer route began at Çamyuva Beach and climbed through the Kesmeboğazı gorge, forested slopes, and rocky mountain terrain toward Tahtalı. Sixteen checkpoints stood between the start and the summit.
Hard enduro is off-road motorcycling at its most physically demanding: finding traction, keeping balance, and persuading a motorcycle forward through terrain that repeatedly threatens to stop it. At Sea to Sky, those demands change with the landscape. The approach that works in beach sand will carry a rider only so far once the route reaches the rocks.
Kemer’s geography makes that progression possible. Here, the western Taurus Mountains rise behind the Mediterranean coast, bringing the waterfront and high mountain country into the same view.
This year, the contrast went beyond scenery. People experienced coastal warmth and summit cold within the same gathering—the feeling of summer below and winter above.
For visitors taking the Olympos cable car to the summit, the change came quickly.
For the riders, it had to be negotiated one difficult section at a time.
The Long Way Back to First
Lettenbichler started from the third row.
After two frustrating days, he needed to move forward early, before the most technical sections made passing harder. He worked through the field, reached Kabakchiev, and rode alongside him before pulling away.
“I really wanted that victory today, but I wasn’t quite sure how it would go,” he said afterward.
By the time he reached Tahtalı, uncertainty had become a third consecutive Sea to Sky victory. His time: 3:40:01.78.
There was another reason to watch beyond the leaders.
Graham Jarvis, already a six-time winner here, completed the event on his electric Jarv-E—the first rider to do so on an electric motorcycle. On a mountain he knew well, the veteran had arrived with something different to prove.
Simply completing the route remained an achievement shared by relatively few. Of 314 Mountain Race starters, 31 went the full distance to earn Gold classification. Others reached the checkpoints required for Silver, Bronze, or Iron. The mountain continued to matter long after the winning time had been recorded.
A Podium That Changed After the Finish
Kabakchiev originally crossed the line second, but the result did not stand.
After barbed wire became entangled in his rear wheel, outside assistance led to a penalty that was subsequently upgraded to disqualification. Kabakchiev disputed the decision, saying spectators had intervened without his asking. Organizers said the sanction was the responsibility of race officials and the FIM jury.
The amended order promoted Spain’s Mario Román to second and South Africa’s James Moore to third.
Mountain Race — Amended Podium
🥇 Manuel Lettenbichler, Germany — 3:40:01.78
🥈 Mario Román, Spain — 3:44:12.88
🥉 James Moore, South Africa — 3:54:27.97
Lettenbichler strengthened his championship lead, although the title remained open heading to the Hixpania finale in Spain on October 23–25.
Why Kemer Stays With You
By Saturday afternoon, the awards ceremony had brought the gathering to the summit.
The Mediterranean lay below—the same water that had hosted a party before the racing began. From here, the coast belonged to a much larger picture, connected to the finish by the forests, gorge, and slopes the riders had just traveled through.
For someone accompanying a competitor or discovering hard enduro from the sidelines, that journey offered its own rewards. A celebration out on the water. Racing close enough to follow from the beach. A cable-car ascent to meet the event at its highest point.
Maybe it is the sight of motorcycles negotiating obstacles beside the Mediterranean that stays with you.
Maybe it is standing at Tahtalı’s summit, feeling the cold while looking down toward the coast where the trip began.
Or maybe it is discovering how much can fit into a few days in one place—and how a race can give you a reason to experience all of it.
The next time you see Tahtalı from Kemer’s shoreline, it will be harder to think of it as background scenery.
You will know where the finish line is.
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