Tour of Ohio- Hekman A&F finishes in yellow!

Tour of Ohio - NE

Ohio, USA, June 19-, 2007

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Stage 6 - June 24:

Hekman finishes in yellow.

The Tour of Ohio ended on Stage 6 as the event began - with a sprint victory by Marco Aledia. The Abercrombie and Fitch rider won the race with the green sprinters jersey on his shoulders, just 30 laps after ensuring that he would keep the tunic for good.

Aledia's Abercrombie and Fitch team was determined from the outset to keep the race together in order to protect the overall lead of Mark Hekman, and also to cement Aledia's lead in the sprint competition.

In the first half of the race, A&F was gobbling up breakaways with autonomic precision, but as the attacks continued relentlessly, the squad switched gears and began placing its teammates in moves as dead weight.

After much yelling and gesticulation by Hekman, who was isolated at the front of the peleton with two laps to go, A&F mustered the energy to snuff another challenge to its grip on the race one last time and brought Minturn back into the fold.

The bell lap provided the sight of the yellow jersey giving a leadout to the green jersey for the win. Aledia was motivated by the effort of his team leader, who leads the 2007 USA Crits Championship Series standings, saying: "When you have the best criterium rider in America leading you out, you have to rise to the call." Aledia beat a hard charging Steve Scholzen (IS Corp) by half a wheel to take the victory.


Results:

1. Marco Aledia (A&F)
2. Steve Scholzen (IS Corp)
3. Jaime Gandara (Colovita/New Mexico)

Final General Classification:

1. Mark Hekman (A&F)
2. Dewey Dickey (Mercy/Specialized)
3. Josh England (A&F)