AEVOLO SET FOR US PRO NATIONALS IN KNOXVILLE THIS WEEKEND
June 16th, 2021
Nationals week has finally arrived! For about a fortnight, Aevolo has posted up in Knoxville for pre-nats training camp to prepare for a hot, humid, and stormy journey to stars and stripes glory, USPro Nationals kicks off on Thursday, June 17, with a 34.9km course. Eric Brunner, Gage Hecht, Conor Shunk, and Gabriel Shipley will be holding things down for Aevolo on the out and back road along the riverfront.
"The time trial is a good event for me, I would like to get some redemption on the road race after crashing out of the group and being unable to get back on, and I'm always excited for a crit," Hecht said. "Hopefully, the work we've been doing down here makes the heat a little less of a problem for us throughout the weekend."
On Friday evening, the criterium takes place downtown. The 90-minute blur of speed around the hub of the "scruffy city" and starts at 7:45 p.m. EST.
After a day off, the highly-anticipated main event will ignite on Sunday. The 190km men's elite road race starts at 1:15 p.m. EST and, same in 2019, it covers 15 laps of a 12.71-kilometre circuit around the piedmont region of the Great Smoky Mountains.
"After a solid couple of months away from home, it feels nice to be back to my roots on the east coast," Schuck said. "The team came in a couple of weeks early for some preparation in the heat, which has been a huge benefit. With a bit of rest in the legs this week and some time spent training in the heat and humidity, I'm feeling ready to go and excited to see what we can accomplish. The courses will make for dynamic racing as the rolling hills, and high temperatures of Tennessee make for some of the most challenging roads I've competed on."
Criterium/road race roster
Gage Hecht
Eric Brunner
Gabriel Shipley
Cade Bickmore
Sean McElroy
Scott McGill
Aidan McNeil
Conor Schunk
Tyler Stites
How to watch - FloBikes will have live coverage of the criterium and road race events beginning at 2:45 p.m. EDT.