The Speed of Light Giro Competition continues with the pentultimate stage.

Race leader Scott Luca has ten seconds in hand over teammate Bennett Paul with two stages left to race. The duo have been head and shoulders better than the other GC contenders, and have split the first two days of the competition.

Both spent the weekend taking top five finishes at Arcadia Grit’n’Gravel and have confirmed their form heading into the crucial third stage of the Giro competition. Luca relied on his big lead after the first event, with Bennett Paul snagged back thirty-five seconds last week. The wildcard has been Ryan Kennedy. On stage two, he swept up the ten second time bonus for first place, as well as the thirty second time bonus at the top of the first climb of the day.

Steve Andriese will return with a stage win in mind, and should also sweep up the intermediate sprint. This week, the first person to The Wall bypass will get a ten second time bonus. In addition, there will be double time on offer at the finish, with first place stoked with 20 seconds, second with 15 and 10 for third. With the GC lead separated by just ten seconds, the entire race could come down to Luca or Paul taking third on the day and putting some daylight between first and second.

The rest of the GC picture is just as tight, with Cody Sovis narrowly defending third place ahead of the Einstein Racing duo of Jason Lowetz and Sean Kickbush. Lowetz has experimented with two bikes thus far, exchanging a fat bike for a mountain bike on stage 2. It seems only a matter of time before he gets it all together and makes a podium run on his Focus Raven.

Wes Sovis is also expected to return to the competition after missing stage two due to illness. He’s adopted the cyclocross bike and could be a strong ally for any rider over the VASA Power Section. The third week of the race also ushers in the debut of Jason Whittaker, who should figure heavily in the finale.