HECHT WINS BAKER CITY CYCLING CLASSIC OVERALL
June 28th, 2021
Gage Hecht capitalized on his great form by winning the Baker City Cycling Classic in Baker City, Oregon, the weekend after pro nationals. Hecht, along with Eric Brunner, Scott McGill and Tyler Stites went straight to the three-day, four-stage event after Pro Nationals and crushed their competition with dominant performances each day.
"We brought a tight-knit squad to Baker City and Gage Hecht came away with his first stage race overall GC win," team director Jono Coulter said. "The Aevolo boys kicked off the week with a Stage 1-2 with Gage and Tyler."
"Coming off of pro nationals, we took some rest, so we weren't sure how Baker City would go, but it ended up being a big success for our team," Stites said. "We only had four riders at the race, but we were still able to use our strength in numbers to win the GC. I had a lot of fun splitting the race up in the crosswinds with my teammates. Gage ended up gaining enough time to win the GC by lapping the field in the criterium, which was also a lot of fun to be a part of. I really enjoyed racing in Baker City and hope to be back again!"
The final test was a 130km road race to Anthony Lakes Ski Resort where Hecht placed 2nd to Drake Deuel, losing eight seconds at the summit finish, but it was enough to win the overall by 1:09.
"I'm happy for Gage to get his first stage race overall victory and impressed at the level the guys are riding at after several camps and the USPro block," Coulter said.