Graves on top in men's four cross

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World Cup champion Jared Graves (Yeti Fox Shox) confirmed his four cross World Cup title under the lights of the Planai ski slope in Schladming, Austria, Saturday night.

The men's series had already been won by Graves, the new world champion, but he wasn't about to pass up the opportunity to finish the season on a winning note. The Australian was untouchable, easily winning his heats in every round, often by huge margins. in the final, it came down to Graves, Romain Saladini (Team Sunn), Johannes Fishbach (Ghost ATG) and Dutchman Joost Wichman. Wichman ran into trouble at the top of the course, putting himself out of contention, and the young Frenchman Saladini was able to hold off Fishbach for second behind Graves.

Saladini's second place bumped him up to third in the final standings behind Graves and Wichman. He took over the place of injured Roger Rinderknecht (GT Bicycles).

"It's been a good season," said Graves. "Tonight I was confident [of winning], but there were a lot of interesting moves and crashes happening out there. I wanted to go out on a strong finish to the season, so I knew what I had to do. There were a couple of small mistakes, but nothing that cost me, so it was a good night."

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