Granigan wins on Mount Sequoyah in men's stage 2 at Joe Martin Stage Race

Noah Granigan (Wildlife Generation Pro Cycling) finished on the podium for a second day, this time winning stage 2’s Mount Sequoyah Road Race at the Joe Martin Stage Race.

Four riders contested the final podium spots behind Granigan, with Eder Frayre (L39ION of Los Angeles) crossing the line for second and Tyler Stites (Project Echelon Racing) in third, leaving Sergio Henao (Emanuel Ibarry 2-bikeTeam) for a repeat in fourth place. Torbjørn Røed (Yoeleo Test Team p/b 4Mind) finished fifth and Wildlife Generation's Scott McGill was sixth.

The stage 1 winner from Thursday, Wildlife Generation's Jonny Clarke, finished seventh on Friday and extended his GC lead, now 23 seconds ahead of teammate Granigan, 30 seconds on Stites and 39 seconds on Henao.

“I’m not very good at those explosive finishes. We have Noah and Scott who are really good on those, and the other boys pulling on the front all day, so it’s really good," Clarke said at the finish.

After a 15.3km (9.5 miles) neutral start from Fayetteville, the men’s stage 2 headed out for a 182.4km (113 mile) large loop in the rolling roads on the eastern foothills of the Ozark mountains.

After the first intermediate sprint, the breakaway of the day began with George Jackson (MitoQ - NZ Cycling Project), Jeremy Obrand (Toronto Hustle) and Allan Schroeder (CS Velo Racing) and joined later by Michael Hernandez (Best Buddies Racing). The quartet gained as much as three minutes. 

“The team showed that we were really strong yesterday,” Granigan said about five riders finishing in the top 15 on stage 1, including the win by Jonathan Clarke. “Other teams were fine with letting the break go and putting the pressure on us to chase. Those four guys were absolutely flying all day.”

Finishing second on the first day, Granigan said the Wildlife team used its numbers to gain an edge on the final climb.

“We got it down to within striking distance and then we had numbers in the final climb. Echelon drove it down at the bottom [of the climb] and kept it hard. 

"We had Scott at the front. He opened up a gap to Stites in the last turn, which made Stites have to close a few bike lanes in the sprint. He made a great move but we had numbers it was the responsibility of Scott to bring him back. Again, it shows how strong our team is.”

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