The tight race at the top bounced itself a little loose last night, with Ryan Kennedy hardly even having to respond to any threats to his maillot jaune. Plus, the new Schmidt era has begun in miniSOL and Junior SOL! 

The third stage of the Tour Competition should have been a hot and hard attack one yellow, but with so many riders keen to hold their top five spots, and perhaps hoping to save just a little for Saturday’s Trails Festival, it was largely a procession ahead of next week’s Queen Stage double. Instead of a vicious, raucous opening

Instead of a vicious, raucous opening miles, the race was relatively sedate. Cody Sovis, astride a bike with flat handle bars and suspiciously wide tires, set the early tempo, with a brief cameo from John O’Hearn before leading onto Madeleine’s, up Mount Gary’s and onto the Power Section. Four wheels back, the calm and collected Kennedy was feeling spry enough to carry conversation, while Sovis, 90 seconds back, rued the lack of attacks from the other riders on GC.

Finally, Jeff Owens took matters into his own hands. With no GC to worry about, he wound up the pace and began to pop the large collection of rider tacked onto the back of the train in the latter half of the Power Section. Sovis went for the sprint, but failed to take a single point, which opened up the Points classification in a big way. His lead goes from 6 to 2, with Kennedy behind and Voss a further 4 back.

Sovis stayed on the front to lead across the field, across the Saarlock pit and around the new Wall Bypass. Then the attacks started, with Kennedy, Voss and O’Hearn getting clear and causing Owens to bridge, with Garrett Jenema snapping on his heels ahead of Kyle Macdermaid.

The race was in ones and twos, with Macdermaid eventually pairing up with Dan Ellis to give chase, Jenema within sight all of the time. After Anita’s Sovis and Josh Zelinski got to Ellis’ wheel, who gave a massive effort to help deliver Sovis to Macdermaid and limit the time loss.

Owens took the stage, but Kennedy and Voss crossed the line together, and the President’s lead stays at 67 seconds. That’s a big victory for the former Tour winner, and even with the Double next week, his rivals missed a chance to take back even a few seconds and make their task more likely in the finale. On the way home, Kennedy was both relieved and puzzled at the lack of attacks early, but admittedly chuffed at his prospects with just 22 miles of racing left in the Tour.

For runner-up Voss, he’s firmly ensconced in the Mountains classification lead after sharing double points with teammate Jenema. The young duo have also handed Hagerty Cycling the Team Competition lead on a silver plate, now nearly five minutes up on ERSB, although kolo tc sits just 12 seconds further back after an incredible ride from the on-form Dan Ellis.

There will be, yet again, no Women’s GC winner with Heidi Schwab leaving the race for MTB Nationals. On the other end of the age gender, Rob Frank looks locked to win the Best Old Rider Competition next week. Jeff Galsterer moves up into second, an important bump for the rider looking for a high finish in the year-long WorldTour standings.

Next week is a special finale. The 14 riders still in the hunt on GC take on The Double, two laps of the SOL course. You might think it would be taken cautiously, but in fact, the first lap of the double is often one of the fastest of the whole year. Kennedy has time on his side, and if anyone has any intention of racing for the win, the moves have to happen early and often to shake the race leader.

FULL Tour standings are updated over hurr. 

The SOL results from every week are always available right here.

And Now, the miniSOL and Junior SOL Report From Pietro!