Speed of Light WorldTour UPDATE: Surprise! Relay Night

Rob

In the two weeks between Grand Tours, the WorldTour returns to center stage with a relay like nothing else. 

Instead of pairing up and riding with a chosen partner, riders took the line and the ‘Go!’ with no idea who their eventual partner might be. As a sort of handicap race, the day’s points were up for grabs based on two rider’s times. The handicap aspect came from pairing the fastest rider on the day with the slowest, and the second fastest with the second slowest, all the way through the field.

With Ore2Shore and Tour hangover, it was a smaller crew on the line Thursday night, but a more tactical one. Cody Sovis led early, but floundered early in the sand and Tom White took over through the CC Climb, with Jason Whittaker in touch. Rob Goepfrich, John Urbain and Nate St. Onge dangled briefly, but the lead trio slowly pulled away, even though no rider was totally committed to driving the pace.

Tom White suffered near catastrophe when he dropped his computer, while Sovis and Whittaker briefly waited. Once onto the Power Section, Sovis rode tempo with Whittaker riding second wheel, while White and St. Onge made up ground once the Power Section ended. White eventually got back with the leaders, while Nate took the rest of the night to settle in on his new BMC Fourstroke 01. It’s really nice, you should all buy one.

Sovis pressed pace up the Hill on Iceman Course segment and stayed on the gas to the foot of Anita’s Hill, when White and Whittaker dropped the hammer. Sovis nearly got back on, but White was in control on the front, staving off an attacking Whittaker while Ryan Kushman, who popped onto the trial from the singletrack, played the role of interested spectator. White takes his first SOL win, with Whittaker next through for his best result as well. Sovis was home third, with Lars Welton and Rob Goepfrich, the pair tied at the hip all Tour long, coming home fourth and fifth respectively.

It was likely a sleepless night for all involved to see how the pairings would out, and what you might have guessed happened. White’s great time wasn’t enough to pull full points. The pairings in the middle of the field were the strongest, with Rob Goepfrich and Eric Schmidt pairing up for the best time of 1:34:32. Crucial points were on the line, and the battle for second was a nail biter. Dave Bucholtz and Ken “Dave Coulier” Peltier came off just one point clear of John Urbain and Josh Plowmen, with Cody Sovis and Dave Walston just over a minute further back. Below are the day’s results, as well as the updated WorldTour standings as of August 8, 2014.

Next week, Speed of Light returns with the Eric Pollard Memorial Classic, with all riders wearing baggy shorts, snappy shirts and/or frame bags receiving double points out of 20 to first, -1 through the top 20. Note: Eric isn’t dead, he’s just in the U.P. 

 

Team Time Trial Relay Stage

Riders Time 1 Time 2 Total Time Points
Rob Goepfrich/Eric Schmidt 0:43:46 0:50:56 1:34:42 20
Dave Bucholtz/Ken Peltier 0:47:30 0:47:33 1:35:03 19
John Urbain/Josh Plowman 0:45:46 0:49:18 1:35:04 18
Cody Sovis/Dave Walston 0:41:15 0:54:57 1:36:12 17
Jason Whittaker/Dave Mann 0:40:59 0:56:18 1:37:17 16
Lars Welston/Chris Gallagher 0:43:45 0:53:50 1:37:35 15
Tom White/Morgan Johnson 0:40:58 1:03:04 1:44:02 14

WorldTour Standings

Cody Sovis 42 14 28 18 50 17 169
Ryan Kennedy 5 20 20 20 75 140
Jason Whittaker 0 30 20 24 43 16 133
Rob Goepfrich 40 8 4 4 31 20 107
Ty Schmidt 58 16 15 16 105
Keegan Myers 3 19 63 85
Tyler Kelly 19 52 71
Jason Lowetz 36 26 62
Dave Bucholtz 35 19 54
Trisha Manion 2 50 52
Scott Luca 13 38 51
Lars Welton 8 28 15 51
Dave Mann 25 16 41
Josh Zelinski 17 17 4 38
Eric Pollard 35 1 36
Susan Vigland 8 7 20 35
Tom White 18 14 32
Jason Jones 30 30
Ken Peltier 7 4 19 30
Dave Walston 6 2 17 25
Steve Andriese 24 24
Chad Jordan 11 11 22
Eli Brown 19 3 22
Eric Grassa 16 6 22
Don Marsh 20 20
Eric Schmidt 20 20
Jimmy McKenna 10 9 19
Laura Webb 19 19
Josh Plowman 18 18
John Urbain 18 18
Heidi Jones 15 15
Craig Webb 15 15
Shawn Luca 12 3 15
Chris Gallagher 15 15
Justin Morris 14 14
Ryan Kushman 9 5 14
Austin Johnson 8 6 14
Morgan Johnson 14 14
TJ Jenema 13 13
Mike Powers 12 12
James Padden 11 11
Mike Walters 9 2 11
Marc Brunette 10 10
Langley Scherer 9 9
Brian Beauchamp 7 7
Keith Conway 6 1 7
Lauri Brockmiller 6 6
Jon Throop 5 1 6
Pete Worden 5 5
Rachel Decker 3 3
Matt Harris 1 1

A WordPress.com Website.

%d bloggers like this: