KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Aevolo Cycling kicked off US Pro Nationals weekend in downtown Knoxville with Zeke Mostov taking 12th place in the time trial, clocking a 39:04 on the 30.7 km course. His teammate, Gage Hecht, finished in 18th place with a time of 39:27.

​

Both riders put in stellar performances, competitive with the best riders in the nation. The stars and stripes jersey was won by BMC’s Joey Rosskopf.

​

“My legs felt pretty solid today,” Mostov said. “I went into the race with pretty low confidence because it’s been a few years since I felt strong on a time trial bike. I ended up being able to up the pace very lap and felt strong throughout. I think I could have gone faster if I started out a bit quicker, but this TT is a good confidence boost heading into U23 nationals where I think I can build on my ride today.

​

Hecht, part of the team that came from a block of two Canadian stage races, said his legs felt better than expected.

​

“It definitely suited me pretty well,” Hecht said. “My cross background helped. The course had little tiny recovery sections where you could get a little bit of rest to reset your mental state. I think that helped quite a bit, along with the laps. I was able to break it up into sections.”

​

Tomorrow, the team will line up five riders for the 109-mile (179km) USPro national road race. The 7.9-mile (12.8km) circuit will be covered 14 times by the men.

​

“For the majority of the team, it’s the first time we’ve ever raced against World Tour riders,” Mike Hernandez said. “This will come with a learning curve, but I think the team will show the our colors well in the breakaways. Coming off of Tour de Beauce, I think the team learned a lot on the first stage when we managed to put five riders in the breakaway that decided the rest of the race.”

​

The race starts at 1:30pm EDT will be streamed live on the USA Cycling YouTube channel, http://bit.ly/2tHzYFH.

​

US Pro Nationals Road Race roster:

​

Lance Haidet

​

Michael Hernandez

​

Ezekiel Mostov

​

Tyler Stites

​

Gage Hecht