Hard enduro riders returned to the rocky hillsides of Tennesse this weekend for the 13th annual Red Bull Tennesse Knockout (TKO) Hard Enduro in Sequatchie, Tennessee and Trystan Hart found himself once again on top. This was the Canadian’s third win in the last four years with second-place Billy Bolt breaking the streak in 2021.
International riders had a great performance as British-born Bolt was followed by Germany’s Manuel Lettenbichler riding for KTM to take the final spot on the podium. Jonny Walker finished fourth on a Beta and Cody Webb was the highest-finishing rider from the USA rounding out the top five.
Hart was confident after his third win in the event but knows there is still ground to be covered to be considered the master of the series.
“I feel pretty good,” Hart said from the winner’s circle. “It’s my third time winning here. I’m halfway to six total wins which is what Cody Webb has right now. So, I still have a long way to go but I’m halfway there.”
MORE: Trystan Hart wins 2022 Red Bull TKO
Hart’s shout to Webb did not go unnoticed.
Webb won this race six consecutive times from 2013 through 2018 before a knee injury kept him from competing in 2019. It has taken a while to get back to top form, but the rider is still considered the gold standard of this event.
Webb’s return to the top five was a feat in itself.
The Sherco rider has been plagued with injuries that have affected his domination of this race. Webb finished ninth in 2020 and 2022; he was eighth in 2021, so his top-five this week was a significant rebound. The knee injury was not his only issue. After the 2021 race, Webb held a clinic for amateur riders and while showcasing what not to do by tipping his bike over, he broke a small bone in his wrist. Six months later, he crushed every bone in that same wrist, at which point the initial injury was discovered. His return to competition in last year’s TKO may have been too soon.
“No one could find out what actually happened to me,” Webb told NBC Sports’ before the race. “I had to get an MRI and I told them that something was wrong. The doctors told me that I’m an idiot.
“Finally we found out I broke a little tiny bone in my wrist. When I finally healed from that and had a few good results in March of 2022 before last year’s event, I completely dislocated and obliterated all the little bones in my wrist to finish it off. So I was pinned up for 10 to 11 weeks and I had to rehab from that, but I’m still trying to make a valiant effort every day.”
TKO has a unique setup designed to create a spectator-friendly race. It features a short two-mile Enduro course for most of Saturday’s events. The final feature on Sunday and the 11-mile long course push riders to the limit.
“Riders that no one had really ever heard of, because they never got a chance to show themselves, came out and they did every single race Saturday. Qualified all the way through and had a strong performance in the main event,” Webb said. “I feel like the knockout gives opportunities to newer riders to go out there and make a name for themselves.”
Fifty-six riders made it into Sunday’s format and attempted Knockout on the 11-mile course. It was here that Hart showed his dominance. He set the fastest time with a 47-minute, 17-second lap. Times were faster this year than in the recent past due to a dry track and slightly lower humidity than is usual this time of year in Tennessee.
Webb and Hart know Mother Nature is always one of the hardest opponents. Hart referenced the humidity as one of the pieces that “wears us humans down.” Webb added the natural terrain to list of obstacles, specifically the rocks sweating in the riverbed.
“You get in these creeks and it’s just relentless rocks and I swear they sweat down here from the humidity,” Webb said. “It’s just really slippery and you can do little bits of it here and there. But when you’re riding off and on all day, the heat and slick rocks really get to you by the final main event.
“Thirty minutes doesn’t sound too bad but it’s 30 minutes of all-out, brutal physical work and you’re trying to keep the bike in line and yourself pushing forward.”
After knockout races, the riders returned to the short course for the 35-minute plus one-lap feature. Lettenbichler took the lead early followed by Hart and Bolt. As the trio hit the Red Bull Ravine hill climb, Bolt and Lettenbichler struggled. When Lettenbichler flipped, Hart was able to capitalize and create a twelve-second gap as the field headed into the second lap.
Lettenbichler came back and challenge for second with the top four separated by less than 10 seconds. It was a tight grouping on an enduro course of this length and challenge.
Webb was the first rider outside of this group, but after a few years of bad luck, his top-five was the first step before hopefully returning to the podium and challenging for wins again.