It was a close race where it was close, and in another zip code where it wasn’t. Garrett Jenema take the yellow jersey by just two seconds over Jeff Owens to cap off the Tour Competition.
One of the keys to winning a four-week fake bicycle racing is making the most of your best day and surviving your worst. If that’s the recipe, Jenema measured things to absolute perfection. In the Tour finale, Jenema saw himself dropped late, riding into the proverbial wall and floundering his way to the line.
Taking the stage win, Jeff Owens had to wait a while to see exactly what the gap was back to the struggling yellow jersey. Owens was marked to the line, dutifully, by Jenema’s teammate Max Meyer, himself recovering from what would be dubbed an off-night during the Queen Stage.
In the end, Jenema made it by just two seconds to pick up his first ever yellow jersey. Owens didn’t come home empty-handed, adding both the Mountains and Points jersey to what was a dominant display.
The pair had a week back to Meyer in third place, a full eight minutes and change. It was another mile or two back to the kolo krew, with Cody Sovis, Dan Ellis, Jaden Drews, and Wes Sovis all neatly in a row. Drew Cummins and Steve Andriese finished things up, with a huge slew of riders bowing out on stages three and four.
Unfortunately, no women finished the Tour, a streak reborn after Bridget Widrig got the gals back in the mix in 2019. Kudos to Bridget, Sami, and Susan for getting out as often as they have this summer!
Next up, it’s the Team Time Trial, the race that will cap off the SOL season for 2020. Based on trade teams, every third rider from your club counts, so you can technically score as many squads as you have riders! It’s a race kolo t.c. has been essentially practicing for since June, and they’ll be looking to come up with something special against the powerhouse of Jenema, Meyer, and Andriese.