Nothing ruffled the feathers of race leader Ryan Kennedy, but his main threat Keegan Myers was also locked on. 

It was a big group on the line for the second stage of the 2014 Tour Competition, with a lot of riders with different agendas heading in the Sprint stage. Two new starters, entering without GC ambitions, played a massive role in the day’s events, and changed the overall picture of the race. Jorden Wakeley and Eli Brown combined with Myers and Kennedy to shred the front of the peloton, and blitz the Power Section on a day worth double points.

The start of the stage opened with an immediate attack from Eli Brown, which immediately stretched the group to the breaking point, with a dozen or so riders still in contact over the KOM segment, the Vasa CC Climb. Jason Whittaker, in the polka dot jersey, timed his move perfectly to stay in touch, with Keegan Myers choosing to stay near Wakeley and Kennedy. Tyler Kelly used a great start to toss his hat into the KOM ring, matching times with Kennedy and Whittaker for the full ten points. Myers lost a little ground, but with next week worth double, nothing is decided for the polka dots, especially with Whittaker with just two points margin for error.

The elastic split shortly after the segment, with 3rd placed rider on the road Cody Sovis riding in the wrong place, an error from a rider that prides himself on smart riding. Brown came off the front and off the back of the leaders, with Wakeley firmly on the gas with Kennedy second wheel. Whittaker also came unglued, with Sovis pulling along a small group before Woodchip as the elite group pulled away with those aforementioned joined by Nate St. Onge, Luke Tjosvold and Tyler Kelly still in touch.

In the first chase group, Eric Grassa put in a move, but a mechanical wrecked his effort. Brown, Sovis and Josh Zelinski made contact with Whittaker to make up the second group on the trail, with the Best Old Rider heroes making up the next group of chasers not too far back. It was a chess match for the white jersey, with Lars Welton, Rob Goepfrich and Scott Luca eye-balling each other early, playing an entertaining game of cat and mouse. Goepfrich had the advantage of Austin Johnson in the mix, taking some big pulls to mix in with a lot of work from Welton.

Trisha Manion stayed on the gas in the women’s race, adding a big chunk of time to her Women’s GC lead, coming in with a solid and useful 51:11 on the day.

Up front, Nate St. Onge put in a big move to take a little pressure off the yellow jersey, with Kennedy marking the chase from Wakeley and Myers. It was Myers who really pulled the group apart with an attack just after the Saarlock Pit, putting in a gap to Kelly and Tjosvold, but failing to ruffle the feathers of Kennedy and Wakeley. Wakeley was comfortable, saving a move for late which Kennedy was able to parry, and the trio were separated by just seconds on the stage, with Wakeley coming home in 38 minutes and thirteen seconds. Tjosvold made the most of the day, moving up into third overall with a 39:14, with Kelly also moving up with a 40:04.

Sovis and Whittaker lost their places to that duo, ceding more time in the latter half of the stage. Sovis made the decision not to help the chase over the Mini Power Section, and with two Einstein Racers in the lead group and only one City Bike rider in the move, it helped open the gap in the Team Competition to almost seven minutes. The lead should be safe, barring an extremely bad day in the closing stages of the race.

On GC, Kennedy now sits 25″ up on Myers for the yellow jersey, with Tjosvold now into third place just under two minutes down. Kelly also moved up, now in fourth place at three minutes behind.

The double sprint points on offer opened up a comfortable lead for Tyler Kelly, now six points clear of Ryan Kennedy, with Sovis and Myers tied for third. That six point gap could be very tough to overcome, and with Kennedy more focused on the GC, Kelly may have already done enough to lock up the green jersey.

The Mountains classification is going to go down to the wire, and should be the big target next week as it goes up for double points. Jason Whittaker has a two point lead over teammate Kennedy and Myers, both sitting on 18 points. Tyler Kelly has also jumped up to contend for polka dot, now in third at 16 points.

The Best Old Rider Competition has opened up slightly, with Lars Welton heading into Stage Three with 40 seconds over Scott Luca and Rob Goepfrich now hovering around the minute mark. That competition isn’t over until the finale, with the two lap stage almost certain to blow the old boys apart.

Ryan Kennedy was calm and content with the day’s effort, but knows nothing is decided as of yet. “Today I had good legs and a great teammate in the lead group. It was fun. How was your ride?” he asked nicely. Because he is a nice guy.

Here are all the standings after Stage Two:

GENERAL CLASSIFICATION

SPRINT CLASSIFICATION

MOUNTAINS CLASSIFICATION

BEST OLD RIDER

WOMEN’S GC

TEAM COMPETITION