The Tour Competition is already a three man show after Stage One, with a fast and testy Stage One. The line was drawn in the sand, quite literally, on the opening climb of Stage One, with Jorden Wakeley, Jeff Owens and Ryan Kennedy quickly establishing themselves as the class of the Tour. The trio tore away, leaving a chase group swimming in the sand on the Vasa CC Climb, and it was quickly apparent it was a race for fourth place.
The leaders put down a blistering time on the Power Section as well, with Wakeley holding yellow, green and the polka dot jersey. A late move saw him take the stage, but all important time on GC, with a full one minute and ten over Kennedy and Owens, who finished on equal time.
The chase group broke with a Cody Sovis move over Mount Gary, with only John O’Hearn able to match it over the top. The pair worked well over the Power Section to keep the hard-charging chase off, with Marc Brunette and Kyle Macdermaid both putting in big pulls for KEEN. Chad Jordan was also in touch, and his effort on the day would end up giving M22 the Team Competition lead.
The woman’s race was marred by Susan Vigland’s tough fall. She sits ahead of Lauri Brockmiller and Karen Gerlando, with a comfortable lead to work with over the next three weeks.
Rob Goepfrich holds the Best Old Rider’s white jersey with a solid 41 minute time on the opening stage. He’s only a handful of seconds ahead of an on-form Steve Lagerquist, who should be able to count on some help from his team later on. The ageless Lars Welton and Ed Johnson round out the field.
The Team Competition could be the closest one to watch, although that battle for second on GC could be interesting if Mr. President can make it three more nights. With Wakeley dominate, he’ll rely on the smarts and consistency of Chad Jordan all Tour to keep the lead, although Einstein Racing-Short’s Brewing should find some reinforcements from Luke Tjosvold, Craig Fortuna and Jason Whittaker in the coming weeks as well. Hagerty is leaning heavily on Jeff Owens, and they’ll need some help if they’re going to make up their current deficit.
Stage Two will see the riders go for double points on the Vasa CC Climb, the first of TWO double points stages in this Tour. It’s one weighted for the climbers, and there’s nowhere to hide in the opening miles of each stage.
You can see the weekly times here.
The Tour Competition results and classifications are here.
Don’t forget to follow the miniSOL Tour Competition here.