The 22-year-old American hails from West Hartford, Connecticut and will make his debut for our U23 team later this week at the Kreiz Breizh Elites stage race in France before completing the season with us and then graduating to the WorldTour in 2027 with EF Education-EasyPost.

“I’m super excited to be joining EF Education-Aevolo. One of the biggest draws to the team is having Jonathan Vaughters as the figurehead and leader. We’re an international team, but having that American influence is pretty cool. It feels like a great way to be introduced to European racing, as I’m still really new to the sport. Having the central hub in Girona too, it just felt like an incredible opportunity when they offered me a spot. Everyone I spoke to was really friendly, and while I’ve not spoken to everyone on the team, all the people I have met and talked to have been super friendly. It made joining the team a no-brainer,” Gavin told us shortly after signing his contract.

Gavin, a recent computer science graduate from Stanford University, burst onto the road scene in the US earlier this year before venturing to Europe, where he finished second overall in the highly prestigious Oberösterreich Rundfahrt stage race as part of the US national team.

A successful high school and college runner, Gavin fell in love with cycling during periods of injury, during which he’d regularly use cycling as part of his rehabilitation. Running’s loss was certainly cycling’s gain as Gavin began to take part in local races at the tail end of 2025. He quickly rose through the ranks on the domestic scene before his major breakthrough earlier this season.

“Going back to the beginning, I was recruited to Stanford to run cross country and track and field. I did well in high school as a runner, and that was the pathway set out for me. I wanted to be a pro runner, but I was injured in my freshman, sophomore, and junior years. I wasn’t able to string together any real amount of training, and I’d be forced to keep building back up from zero, but in my junior year I’d been doing a lot of my cross-training on the bike, and the riding around the Bay Area in California is absolutely gorgeous. My first time on a bike out there was life-changing. Before that, I’d done so many hours on the indoor trainer and grinding away in a dark room listening to music. To go from that to being outside and riding over the hills, it was like all of a sudden I was doing the best thing in the world,” Gavin said.

“It blossomed from there. I started to fall more and more in love with cycling, and I reached a point in 2025 when I decided that I was ready to race domestically. I did a couple of Cat 5 races, and basically time trialed away from everyone, and I had a load of fun. I joined some group rides, one of which was called the Spectrum Ride, where a bunch of people basically ride like it’s their last day alive. It just exploded from there. I got onto a club team called Team Cycle Sport. And I’ve been with them since last winter. I got to Cat 1 by the spring, then did Redlands, and Tanner Putt from USA Cycling invited me to the U23 races in Europe. That was my introduction to European racing and Europe as a whole,” Gavin added.

Those races in Europe were certainly key in Gavin’s pathway, but so too was a local Strava record that Gavin broke in California. That lit the touchpaper, drawing attention from scouts, agents, and teams, whilst also boosting his confidence in his own ability.

“I did this hill climb in the local Bay Area called ​​Old La Honda Road. I’d done a lot of my intervals on there, and I was on a group ride a while back, and this guy noticed that my bike wasn’t of the highest quality. He told me that if I had an upgrade in material, I could get the record. I thought there was no way. I was around 90 seconds off the time to start with, but a couple of weeks later he let me use his bike, and he drove behind me. I felt like a pro, and I ended up being one second over the record, but then we did it for a second time, and I was one second under. That got me a bit of attention. From there, the guy who helped me with the record reached out to an online scout, who helped with the connections,” he said.

Of course, the racing results in Redlands, the Peace Race, Oberösterreich Rundfahrt, and the National Championships United States Road Race, where Gavin was one of the strongest riders and went on to finish 20th, demonstrated his all-round promise and potential, but when it came to deciding his next steps, Gavin opted for EF Education-Aevolo and EF Education-EasyPost.

“I don’t know too much about the history of the sport, so when it came to deciding what was next, it was about hearing what people had to say. So when I spoke to JV and Nate Wilson, the team’s Performance Director, and I heard their plans for me during the rest of 2026 and beyond, they seemed so enthusiastic. They had the most detailed and comprehensive plan, and they were willing to pay the most attention to me compared to any other team. I’m still so new that I probably need that level of attention. I need to have an environment where I’m comfortable asking all the dumb questions. They made me feel very comfortable,” Gavin said.

The rest of Gavin’s 2026 race program will be announced in the coming weeks, but first up is Kreiz Breizh Elites, where he will pull on the EF Education-Aevolo jersey for the first time. The race will be another opportunity for Gavin to test his limits, learn more about European racing, and continue developing as a rider.

“I am a bit nervous, to be honest, mainly because there’s a TTT and I’ve ridden a time trial bike for maybe 40 minutes. For the TT in Redlands, I couldn’t afford to buy one, so I borrowed one from a teammate and had to drive hours to collect it. I rode it around for a little bit, but I’ve basically had about a week to get used to it. I’m excited to perform for the team, though. Again, they’ve been incredibly supportive, and I can’t wait to start racing for the team and with my new teammates,” he said.

When it comes to the long-term, Gavin is ready to take his development step-by-step, and he’s not ready to pigeonhole himself as one type of rider over another. So far, his talents have suggested that he’s a powerful climber, but it’s his all-round game that he’s hoping to focus on over the weeks and months ahead.

“I’m still not entirely sure what I’ll develop into. I know that I’m strong on 10- to 15-minute climbs. I think I can do well on longer climbs, but I’ve not been able to put that to the test. I’ve been working on my punchiness for two- to five-minute power. I don’t see myself being in a mass bunch sprint, but if it’s a small break, then I think I have a shot. I’d say I’m a climber, overall, but I know that there are lots of areas I want to improve on. I have to build my experience as much as possible, and I’m still in shock that the team have given me this opportunity. I’m ecstatic. This is a dream come true.”

It’s a dream to have you on board, Gavin, and we can’t wait to see you race, learn, and continue your development in EF colors.