Written by Bolt from POM Wonderful.
  
  Another warm summer breeze blows the OCM competition back to American shores. It’s a fast racing, hot dog eating, red white and blue wearing good time. Season 73 brings the 58th edition of this storied stage race which features a wide open race as none of the podium teams have returned this year. The GC will be tightly contested. The SC reigning champion Dario Havlik has returned to mount a defense of his green jersey. Even the time trials will be tightly contested as this lends to be the most competitive race across the board in years.
  
  Before we get to the race breakdown, the teams arrived an extra day early to get settled in, shake off the plane legs and watch their managers go pound for pound in a hotdog eating contest. 10 minutes to eat as many hotdogs + buns as they can. After a force competition, here were the results.
  
  1. Team Quetzel - 20 dogs with taco seasoning on them!
  2. royle - 18 dogs
  3. POM Wonderful - 17 dogs
  4. Columbiero - 10 dogs in one minute then daydreamed for 9 minutes about the deliciousness
  5. Hog Bay CT - 8 dogs
  6. Silver Giant - 5 dogs in his first time trying an American hotdog!
  7. Telstra - 5 dogs
  8. Dinosaur Racers - 5 dogs
  9. Lokomotiva Zvolen - 5 tofu dogs
  10. IFK Banaanhaar - 4 dogs
  11. Cokol Breakaway Team - 3 dogs all decked out in a red, white and blue track suit!
  12. PtbaGooner - 2 dogs
  13. The Hive - 2 dogs
  14. Agnetha Faltskog - 1 dog
  15. Laders - 1 dog
  16. Delta SLB - 0 dogs but 8 buns
  17. Tiropakote - 12 doughnuts
  18. Zeroheroes - .75 dogs
  19. ALAITZ ATHLETIC TEAM - .5 dogs
  20. Team Specialized Cycling - .25 dogs
  21. TJ Banik OKD - 0 dogs. Just drank the lemonade
  22. GJ Velo - 0 dogs. Was too busy crowd surfing
  23. Musashi - 0 dogs. Was in too in awe of Team Quetzels eating abilities
  24. Polish Fighters - 0 dogs but had a great time hanging out with all the managers!
  
  On to the main competition preview!
  
  GC Teams:
  
  POM Wonderful:

Full climbing squad led by overall GC hopeful Sounthalay Bounirisavone in top form. Goals: Win the Red, White and Blue Jersey.
  
  Telstra: Young Nathan Boyle looks to showcase his talent in the mountains. Goals: Top 9.
  
  Zeroheroes: Octave Moens leads his team into the mountains.
  
  ALAITZ ATHLETIC TEAM: Eusebio Mota awaits the inclines to make his mark.
  
  Silver Giant: Who isn’t in TF on this team? Can we get a drug test over here? Zuberi Nayinzira in TF looks ready as ever. Goals: Win it all.
  
  Team Specialized Cycling: Andino Pinotti leads the GC team while Klemens Hjarpe looks to make his mark on stage 5.
  
  Hog Bay CT: Bombs away! Jakob Van Bombergen in TF aims to top the podium with support from Luo Zenfeng who is also in TF. Goals: Overall victory.
  
  IFK Banaanhaar: Showing up with GC aspirations for the first time, Lars Stephan looks to cash in. Goals: Top 9
  
  Columbiero: Clayton Singletary and Eman Vukojevic both in TF make a strong case for some mountain stage wins and beyond. Goals: Win stages and fight for the overall.
  
  Musashi: A strong TTist and climber, Luigi Sano will be the GC hopeful. Goal: Podium.
  
  royle: Thunder and Lightning strike as Leslie Gadberry and Philip Dering pose a strong 1-2 punch and look to showcase their climbing abilities. Goals: Good showing in GC.
  
  SC Teams:
  
  Lokomotiva Zvolen: Dario Havlik returns to defend his green jersey. He is in TF along with two leadouts. Goals: Repeat as the SC victor.
  
  The Hive: Alot of buzz surrounding this team (..hehe.. -_- ..) as fast man Benny Engberg looks to showcase his speed. The team is also bringing some competitors who should do well against the clock. Goals: Stage wins in the sprints and TTs.
  
  Team Quetzel: Demario Jurada in TF and fellow speedster Mcheshi Kibaki aims to parlay the hotdog eating victory into some sprint victories. Goals: Win the SC.
  
  GJVelo: Talented Markus Iwers will mix it up in the sprints. Goals: Win the sprint stages.
  
  DeltaSLB: Orange in green. That’s the plan. Jeremy

Orange leads this team into the fast finishes. Goals: Win the SC.
  
  Agnetha Faltskog: Calvin Updike who is in TF is coming off a runner up in the Men Become Gods Tour SC and looking to win the RotM SC. Goals: Green.
  
  Dinosaur Racers: Coincidence that the team with dinosaur in its name is led by a 40 year old? Egon Admaski shoves father time to the side and looks for sprinting glory while teammate Edwin Majeski will carry this team through the mountains. Goals: Win a sprint stage and podium in GC.
  
  TT Teams/Stage Hunters:
  
  Cokol Breakaway Team: Show up wearing this teams gear and you can get a selfie with OCM legend Benjamin Fontes who has showed up in support of his former team. Clifford Colombo and Tanner Mckenzie are both in TF and looking like favorites in the TTs. Goals: clean up the wins in the TT stages.
  
  PtbaGooner: Expect aggressive tactics as Sebastian Furnes looks to break the line first on a stage. Goals: Win as many stages as possible.
  
  Tiropakote: Felix Sardinha’s primary goal is to win stages. However, if things go right, GC hopes could arise. Goals: Top 9 and a stage win.
  
  TJ Banik OKD: Dual focus team featuring Yakov Russkikh in the mountains and Alonso Tiralongo on the flats. Goals: win any and all stages.
  
  Laders: Dual purpose team led by Lode Van Leemputten in the mountains and Kasjan Kwiatkowski in the sprints. Goals: Stage wins.
  
  Polish Fighters: Everyone, even the mechanics, on this team are strong climbers. Isaiah Eakins tops that list as he looks to top the list of finishers on the mountain stages. Goals: win a few stages.
  
  My Favorites for the GC and SC:
  
  GC:
  1. Zuberi Nayinzira - Silver Giant
  2. Sounthalay Bounirisavone - POM Wonderful
  3. Jakob Van Bombergen - Hog Bay CT
  4. Leslie Gadberry - royle
  5. Clayton Singletary - Columbiero
  
  SC:
  1. Dario Havlik - Lokomotiva Zvolen
  2. Calvin Updike - Agnetha Faltskog
  3. Egon Adamski - Dinosaur Racers
  
  Thank you for reading and good luck to all the competitors!