It’s been a while since we did a Rumors and Rumblings but we have some magnitude 9 rumblings for this long-awaited edition.
Ellen Noble Takes a Leave of Absence
Ellen Noble will be “taking a step back” from professional cyclocross. In a heartfelt post on Instagram, she goes over the reason why she will be taking her leave of absence. After crashing, she fractured her spine in three places. This has caused numerous health issues and has slowly taken a toll on her. With great sadness in her eyes, she had to step back from competitive cyclocross.
“I do not know what lies ahead but I will find joy anyway.” – Ellen Noble
Antwerp World Cup Canceled
The Antwerp World Cup 2021, which was supposed to be hosted on Sunday, December 5th, will be canceled. The organizers did not believe that they were able to uphold the recent COVID-19 health standards, and thus were forced to cancel the race. Their number one priority was the safety of the racers and attendees. The next UCI World Cup will be taking place in Italy on December 12th.
“The UCI would like to thank riders, teams, National Federations and all parties concerned for their understanding.” – UCI
You can read the full story here.
Maghalie Rochette Skips Pan Am
Maghalie, PanAmerican champion for the last 3 years, will not be defending her title at Pan Am 2021. Unfortunately, the schedule for Pan Am conflicts with the World Cup calendar and that becomes disadvantageous to any North Americans competing in the World Cup. She wants to focus on being competitive in World Cup and will have to set down her “PanAm stripes”.
“After wearing the PanAm stripes since 2018, I’m sad to say that I will not defend the title this weekend as I am staying in Europe to compete here. Unfortunately, the race date conflicts heavily with the World Cup calendar, making it a huge disadvantage to any North American trying to be competitive on the World Cup circuit. “
Pidcock Is Back!
After an excruciating absence from the cyclocross scene, Tom Pidcock is finally back. According to Het Laatste Nieuws, Tom Pidcock will be attending the 2021 Telenet Superprestige Boom on December 5th. Tom Pickcock’s goal is to become the champion in all 3 disciplines: cyclocross, mountain biking, and road.
“Fayetteville is a course with opportunities for Tom, we saw that in the WB race. If he makes the crossing to the United States, it’s not just to participate. His ultimate goal is to become world champion in three disciplines (cyclocross, mountain bike, road cycling).” – Tom’s Belgian coach Kurt Bogaerts
That’s not all. With this return, he has released his race schedule.
- 4/12 Tree
- 5/12 Antwerp
- 12/12 Val di Sole
- 18/12 Rucphen
- 19/12 Namur
- 26/12 Dendermonde
- 27/12 Heusden-Zolder
- 29/12 Diegem
- 1/1 Bale
- 2/1 Holly
- 22/1 Hamme
- 23/1 Hoogerheide
- 30/1 World Cup Hoogerheide
You can read the full story here.
Wout Van Aert Sick?
Wout van Aert woke up sick on Tuesday and was unable to complete his training. He believes it was just a cold and not the coronavirus. He has taken a test just to be safe. The results came back negative. He has continued testing throughout the week. He is positive that’s nothing serious and that he will still be able to attend the 2021 Telenet Superprestige Boom to face off against Tom Pidcock.
“I don’t think it’s a big deal. Hopefully I can recover well in the coming days. I now have a little more rest, which could also be positive for next weekend. But it is not the intention to take risks.” – Wout Van Aert
According to nieuwsblad.be, “The great return of Wout van Aert (27) in the field may be delayed. The Jumbo-Visma rider got up sick yesterday and was unable to complete his planned training.” There have been no major announcements of his health so we can assume that Aert is up and ready to face Pidcock head-on.
You can read the full story here.
Mexico Has Announced Mexico’s First Cyclocross Team!
Ending on a fabulous note, Mexico has caught CX fever! According to CyclingTips, AR Monex was registered as the very first Mexican cyclocross team this season. They already raced 8 different cyclocross races, including the UCI World Cup Tábor and Koksijde. Their goal is to get a Mexican rider into the WorldTour.
“We understood that cycling didn’t happen, or not enough, in Mexico to develop further so we saw the necessity to come to Europe. After a few years we started [trying] our luck in road racing. I have also wanted to do cyclocross with these guys and this year we finally managed to do it.” – Team manager Alejandro Rodriguez
According to Rodriguez, the team has raced over 70 days this current season. The team is exhausted after the road and mountain bike season but were excited about the new challenge. They prepared a lot for the 8 races and were happy with the results. He believes that they are not competitive yet but are learning fast and he is proud of the progress the team has made.
