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It’s the cyclocross offseason, which means Rumors and Rumblings is back. Throughout the offseason, we will be doing our best to keep track of what cyclocross athletes are up to when they are racing the lesser disciplines (I kid, I kid). 

Up today, more Dutch dominance, this time on the road.

Vos is La Capa in Italy

The Women’s WorldTour was in Italy on Saturday at the Trofeo Alfredo Binda on Saturday. First held in 1974, the race is the longest-running on the UCI Women’s WorldTour. The 131km race is based out of Cittiglio in the province of Lombardia.

Given the race’s historic lineage, it is apt that one of the sport’s all-time greats, Marianne Vos (CCC – Liv), took the win in the 2019 edition.

Vos had won the race three previous times, and on Saturday, she sprinted to her fourth win out of a large group.

Vos spoke with reporters after the race:

“Of course we were aiming for the win. It’s great that it worked out. It was fast with a lot of attacks, but nothing really stuck. It’s a hard race, and it’s really difficult to stay away. I felt good and the team was doing well to keep control and go with the breaks. Ashley did a great job to keep the pace and get me in the right position for the sprint.”

The race was Vos’ third of the 2019 season. She finished seventh at Strade Bianche a few weekends ago.

Highlights and interviews are available from the UCI:

The race also featured a Junior Women’s race that was won by American Megan Jastrab (Rally UHC Cycling). Katie Clouse (DNA Pro Cycling Team) finished sixth.

Van der Poel Bounces Back in France

Last time we saw Mathieu van der Poel (Corendon – Circus), the Dutch phenom was involved in an end-of-race crash at Nokere Koerse.

The next day, he was out riding the cobbles of the Tour of Flanders route, so it appeared the injury was not anywhere near as bad as expected.

The last time we saw Van der Poel get injured was when he hurt his ankle at Brico Cross Lokeren in October. The next day he crushed the competition at Superprestige Gieten and well, for pretty much the rest of the season.

Would Van der Poel be able to bounce back from his injury on the road as well? In a word, yes.

While Wout Van Aert was sprinting at Milan – San Remo, Van der Poel was racing at the Grand Prix de Denain “mini-cobbled classic” in northern France.

Van der Poel attacked out of the break on the last two cobbled sectors, getting his winning gap on the final one [read a race report here]. In full TT mode, he was able to hold off the peloton to get his second road win of the season.

Van der Poel and Van Aert are scheduled to square off at Gent – Wevelgem on Sunday.

Rumors and Rumblings will be back on a regular basis between now and September.

Featured image: Bart Hazen