Reigning SOL World Champion John O’Hearn sits two seconds off the maglia rosa heading into Stage Two. There’s nothing to worry about Thursday except GC time for O’Hearn, one of three riders with a chance at the overall win in the Giro Competition. With Ryan “Mr. President” Kennedy holding the Points and Mountain jerseys, and only straight points available in those competitions, it’s overall time that will be the most hotly contested. Jorden Wakeley, Kennedy and O’Hearn sit 30 seconds up on fourth place, with the rest of the field over two minutes behind after a decisive first stage.
O’Hearn played it cool on Stage One, avoiding any pace making until things began getting spicy in the second half of the race. He quickly matched the moves from Wakeley, which saw fourth place finisher Cody Sovis ultimately distanced and out of the GC pictured, with Kennedy opting to wind up the engine to close the front two riders down.
On the women’s side, Susan Vigland sits well clear on GC, but she may turn her focus to helping Hagerty improve on their fourth place position in the Team Competition. Vigland is one of just two women to ever score for their team, the other being Kaitlyn Patterson last year. M22 leads the Team Competition over Einstein Racing-Short’s Brewing, with kolo t.c. sitting third.
Todd Vigland leads a deep Best Old Rider Competition by two minutes over Steve “Love Is A” Lagerquist. It’s the biggest BORC yet, with 11 riders scoring on Stage One.
The final two stages will be all about the Mountains classifications, with double points on offer on both Stage Three and Four. The Vasa CC Climb has been especially tough this spring, and riders will be gambling with their GC fate if they go too hard too early for the points.