Twenty-year-old Gage Hecht (Alpha Bicycles-Groove Subaru) will compete in the Elite men`s race next weekend at the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships in Louisville, Kentucky, forgoing the U23 race for a chance to win the nation`s top `cross prize. Hecht, a Colorado native who races on the road with the Aevolo development team run by Michael Creed, told CXHairs.com that he has been considering the idea of racing with the Elites at nationals for most of the season. Hecht was fourth in the U23 nationals race last year in Reno, Nevada, but multiple wins in Elite races this year prompted his decision to step up. `I had been talking with my director on Alpha Bicycle-Groove Subaru, Adam Rachubinski, since the beginning of the year about this possibility,` Hecht told CXHairs.com. `Initially, I had my heart set on getting that U23 title because of my race last year in Reno. As the season progressed, I started gaining some momentum and getting results in some of the major UCI races.`ADVERTISEMENT So far this season, Hecht has taken Elite wins at Cyclo-cross Interlocken and Alfalfa`s ElDora US Open in October before taking first and second over two days at the Cincinnati Cyclocross Weekend. He won the Silver Goose C2 race in Canada before taking the U23 Pan American Championship the next day. He followed that up with wins at the Cyclo-cross Westminster and a two-day sweep at the Resolution Cross Cup in Texas. On Saturday, Hecht took another UCI Elite win at the Ruts `n` Guts opener in Tulsa, Oklahoma, taking out Curtis White (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) and four-time national champion Jeremy Powers (Pactimo-Fuji-SRAM). `After winning the C1 in Cincinnati, I gained the confidence that I had the honest chance of winning at races around this caliber,` Hecht said. `Sure, I am not going to win all the time, but with some luck I could find myself at the leading end of our American Elite races. On top of this, as I continue to grow, I want to give myself the b ...
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