The return of Ryan Kennedy ushered in a new top mark, but the GC men dug deep and battled for time. See how they fared.
Ryan Kennedy returned to the Speed of Light Ride in style, posting a sub-40 mark for the first time ahead of the Arcadia Grit’n’Gravel this Saturday. After missing the first of four stages, he had a mission put down his very best effort. It also meant that he’d be eating up time bonuses for his Einstein Racing teammates, though for one, that proved to be a slight disadvantage.
Scott Luca entered the day with a healthy 45 second buffer on teammate Bennett Paul. Much like the Sky scenario of the 2012 Tour, however, Ben looks to be Luca’s equal, and vowed to put in his effort. It was a case of may the best man win on Stage Two.
Ryan Kennedy swept up the first ten second time bonus atop the sand climb, and motored his way off into the lead. Paul was able to hold his wheel, then hold him in sight, for a long portion of the VASA Power Section before ultimately loosing touch. Behind, Luca was caught behind the leaders before being joined by the duo of Cody Sovis and Spencer “The Man With the Built In Nickname” Payne. With Sovis refusing to help reel in his Team Yellow teammate, Luca soft pedaled on the front, losing time. Payne set a solid pace to bring order to the group, while Cody launched an attack over the gravel road section in an effort to break up the effort. Once reeled in, Luca was content to wheel behind Sovis until forced to play his hand heading into The Wall bypass.
Luca’s move on the Bypass broke up the chasers, with Payne holding his ground, leaving Sovis to flounder like a stuck bull through the sand. The late charge brought Luca close, but not close enough, to catching a screaming Bennett Paul.
Hagerty Cycling’s Steve Andreise made an appearance on his singlespeed, and was good enough for second on the day with a blistering 40:30. That’s a new singlespeed record. Oh yeah.
Matt Harris takes home the coveted Most Aggressive Rider award for taking off an astonishing eight minutes off his time from last week. He’ll take home a high-five next week in an elaborate, choreographed ceremony at Einstein Cycles.
Illness and life in general greatly whittled down the General Classification this week, with just five riders staying in the hunt for a $20 t-shirt. The lead is down to just ten seconds after a great ride from Bennett Paul, plus a two second time bonus for third place. He’s just ten seconds behind Luca, who will be fighting for the win like a bear he once killed with his bare hands once fought for its noble life. The battle for fourth at the moment is between rival business owners that really dislike each other, Sean Kickbush and Jason Lowetz. Feelings will get hurt.
The team competition is shaping up, with Hagerty leapfrogging McLain’s for second place, in no small part thanks to Steve Andreise’s stellar ride on his singlespeed.
General Classification
1. Scott Luca 01:25:47
2. Bennett Paul 01:25:57
3. Cody Sovis 01:30:07
4. Jason Lowetz 01:31:19
5. Sean Kickbush 01:31:42
Team Competition
1. Einstein Racing 2:48:59
2. Hagerty Cycling 2:59:37
3. McLain Racing 3:12:52