A&F Mark Hekman Sprints into Yellow!

Tour of Ohio - NE

Ohio, USA, June 19-, 2007

Stage 4 - June 22: 45 miles


Mark Hekman (Abercrombie and Fitch) won his first stage in the Tour of Ohio. Mark traded green for yellow. Hekman showed a clean set of wheels while winning the fourth stage of the tour in Worthington taking the yellow jersey of the overall leader in the process.

The fourth stage took place as a 1.2-mile circuit on the tree-lined streets of Worthington. The riders were greeted throughout the race by large crowds and several lawn parties around the circuit.

A&F were determined to make sure that the race ended in a field sprint. . Hekman is one of the best criterium racers in the country, as well as New Zealand's Josh England, and especially Marco Aledia, who raced on the streets he grew up on.

The men in white had big ideas, knowing a win for Hekman would give him a 20 second time bonus and would take the yellow jersey off the back of Dewey Dickey (Mercy/Specialized Racing). A&F did its level best to keep the race together, thus there no riders were able to seize more than a 15-second gap.

Hekman, using our bike setup, predictably rose to the call and rewarded his team's hard work for his first stage win in the Tour of Ohio. Dickey, despite closely marking Hekman throughout the race, was unable to match Hekman's final flight to the finish up the final hill.

Results:

1. Mark Hekman (A & F) 1.25.00
2. Erik Tomlison (Team Turin/ Barker + Nester)
3. David Richter (Italia Pasta/ Transport Belmire)
4. Matt Winstead (Juris MorePartnerIncome.com)
5. Tom Soladay (Kelly Benefits)
6. Jason Maom (Mercy Cycling)
7. Josh England (A & F)
8. Jamie Gandara Jr. (Colavita/ New Mexico)
9. Steven Scholzen (IS Corp Cycling Team)
10. Ryan Knapp (Team Alderfer Bergen)