Rally Cycling have signed American Gage Hecht as their first new rider for the 2022 and 2023 seasons. The US-based Pro Continental team continues their current season at one-day races in Italy and France this month. They have scored seven wins abroad so far, including a stage 2 victory at the Tour of Britain by Robin Carpenter, a win at La Route Adélie de Vitré by Arvid de Kleijn, and a pair of stages at Volta a Portugal by Kyle Murphy.
The versatile 23-year-old Hecht is the reigning US men’s elite cyclo-cross champion, a title he earned when the ‘cross nationals were last held in 2019. On the road he has been racing with the Aevolo development team since 2017, winning the U23 national time trial crown in 2018. That same year, at just 20 years of age, he beat WorldTour riders in the opening stage of the Colorado Classic.
Competing in the elite races at this year’s US Pro Road Championships, Hecht was ninth in the road race and 12th in the time trial. Before switching back to cyclo-cross in September, he won the uphill time trial at the Joe Martin Stage Race and completed the four-day UCI event second in the general classification.
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"Gage is one of the best young riders coming out of North America right now and we feel he has a ton of potential. We've been talking for a few years now, and we feel the timing is right now that he is ready to commit fully to the road.” said Jonas Carney, performance director for Rally Cycling.
“He’s still only 23 years old and already has five years at the continental level under his belt. We’re looking forward to helping him achieve big things over the next two years.”
Hecht enjoys the diversity from mud to asphalt, and is eager to taking his next step up to the ProTeam ranks with Rally for next year.
“Cyclo-cross gives you a different type of strength. It’s not so much a sprinter's power, but this ability to just do repeated hard efforts out of the corners without burying yourself. That skill is going to help me a lot as I transition to a full European calendar with the team.
“The team is a really cool platform to make that jump and I’ve heard amazing things about Jonas [Carney] and the rest of the staff about how they treat the riders. I’m really excited to be working with them.”
Away from cycling, Hecht holds a private pilot's license and is currently completing a degree in aviation aerospace science at Metropolitan State University of Denver.
