REFLECTIONS FROM RHODES - AEVOLO DIVES INTO EUROPEAN RACING
April 15th, 2021
After a whirlwind trip to Greece for the Rhodes Grand Prix and the International Tour of Rhodes, we're stateside again. Time for recovery, relaxation, and reflection as the anticipation of racing again (after more than a year apart) dissipates.
The International Tour of Rhodes, part of the UCI Europe Tour, marks some important "firsts" for the team. It's Aevolo's first European competition, and the first time the team has come together as a racing unit since the Herald Sun Tour back in January of 2020. Since then, the team has had a couple of team camps (taking all necessary safety precautions), but road racing was almost nonexistent in 2020 due to Covid-19.
The Tour of Rhodes came with highs, lows, and everything in between. However, we waved 'goodbye' to the ancient island, renewed and motivated for what’s yet to come this season.
"We can take a lot from this race," Team director Mike Creed told Cyclingnews in a recent article. "We knew that the first couple of days were going to be rough because we knew that the guys didn't have that top-end speed or that distance with that speed. But we got better and then just had some back luck on stage 2. [Gage] Hecht and a couple of the guys had good time trials on stage 1, and we were in a position to get a top-five overall, but then we had three flats and crash within the space of about 8km, and it all went to hell, but without that, we'd have two guys in the top 10 and one in the top-five. The results don't match the team's caliber, but that's just bad luck, and we don't do virtual results. We have faith in the riders and we know that we'll work it out."
Looking forward, the team plans to hold a US-based training camp before the national championships in June.
Post-race thoughts and reactions
Jono Coulter - Adjoint Sports Director
"The Aevolo lads are back in North America after a solid block of racing at GP Rhodes and International Tour of Rhodes. It was a big ask to step on the pedals in a class field after more than a year off racing, but the guys rose to the challenge and performed admirably at the race. Keen as for the next block."
Gabriel Shipley
"The Tour of Rhodes was a harsh return to racing, but I couldn't have felt better rolling with the Aevolo crew. As the stages progressed, so did we, amidst the arduous climbs and unforgiving coastal winds. Looking forward to the next fight with these champs...after a little more recovery."
Gage Hecht
"The week was good. It wasn't easy having this race as our first race back, but I think all of us learned a lot. We really had some good rides that just weren't represented by the results due to some bad luck."
Conor Schunk
"The Tour of Rhodes was a great immersion to European racing for Aevolo. Each day offered a challenging course with tough wind conditions, but we grew stronger as a team day to day and adapted to the demands of the race as the week went on. Overall, I think everyone was very excited to get rolling after a long hiatus and to have the opportunity to do so in a beautiful part of the world."