It’s a very different edition of the Tour this year, but at least we’re still fake racing.
After one blisteringly fast stage, Garrett Jenema has seized the yellow jersey after spending yet another day in the company of this season’s fastest riders. Jeff Owens, Max Meyer, and Jenema combined to lower the top time of 2020 this week, ducking all the way to 34:39. Owens came home second just two ticks back, with Max in third a further four seconds in arrears. If there’s any threat to that podium after one stage, it’s former Tour champion Ryan Kennedy, who sits at the 36:52 mark in front of yet another youthful phenom in the top five, Kyan Olshove.
Kolo tc swore to swamp the top ten at the Tour, and so far, it’s a strong start. Cody Sovis, Jaden Drews, and Patrick Cotant are all on pace, with Dan Ellis setting his best time of the year and sitting on the bubble in 11th.
It should be no surprise that Susan Vigland is comfortably leading the women’s GC, with Sami Maldanado playing the role of the perpetual second. Still, Sami has improved in the dirt all season long and it’s going to be exciting to see if she can crack the 50-minute mark!
It was the first of two double-points nights in the Points classification, with ten points up for grabs instead of five. You’ll get no points for guessing which three riders divvied those up, so we’ll just tell you that the yellow jersey is also the green jersey. It’s also a big dent in the green jersey hopes of Cody Sovis, who has won almost every sprint jersey ever awarded because that’s all he has to live for. In a demonstration of how not to win that competition, Cody led onto the power section leading his group, and didn’t get nearly far enough ahead to clear the time gap. Instead, his merry band of kolo-ers nabbed the points. Still, it’s hard to imagine anyone taking points off Jenema, Meyers, and Owens this summer.
Max nabbed the Mountains points on offer ahead of Owens and Jenema, but Josh Zelinski showed some spunk (he’s known for that) to nab three points as well. That competition takes center stage next week, making the Boonenberg top priority for everyone with the GC so spread out already.
The successful opening stage was also a big boost for the Triumvirate in WorldTour points, with Jenema, Meyers, and Owens all taking over 20 points and making up ground, and even sliding into the top ten. Kennedy and Drews also made up some real estate, with Jaden’s eleven points putting him all the way into third place in the year-long competition.
Next week, it’s double Mountains points and one last run to scout things out before the Queen Stage, the infamous two-lap stage of the Tour that makes legs tremble!
All SOL results, Tour standings, and WorldTour points available here.