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It is #crossiscoming season, but that does not mean ‘cross stars are idle. Rumors & Rumblings is back each week to keep you posted on what cyclocross racers are doing to get ready for the 2017-2018 cyclocross season. 

Emma White Adds to Her Stars-and-Stripes Collection

Last weekend, Emma White turned in an impressive weekend of racing to win the GC at the North Star Grand Prix. The five days she spent racing in Minnesota proved to be a perfect warm-up for U.S. Pro Road Nationals in Knoxville, TN.

The young star will need to make more room for more Stars-and-Stripes jerseys in her closet after winning the Women’s U23 time trial and road race to pick up two more national championships to add to her impressive list of palmares.

In the time trial, White covered the 19.2 mile course in 33:02 to take the U23 title by 30 seconds over Margot Clyne. Her time was good enough for 14th place overall among all the women professionals.

White returned on Sunday for an impressive 5th-place overall in the Women’s road race. She made the final chase group behind winner Amber Nemen in the race’s finishing miles and took the fourth spot in the bunch sprint behind former ’cross racer Coryn Rivera and Ruth Winder. White’s 5th-place overall finish also gave her the second U23 Stars-and-Stripes jersey of her weekend.

White was not the only cyclocross standout at U.S. Pro Road Nationals. In Sunday’s road race, Janelle Cole finished 15th, Rebecca Fahringer 27th, Hannah Arensman 41st, Ellen Noble 59th and Dirty Kanza 200 winner Alison Tetrick took 47th.

On the Men’s side, Gage Hecht finished an impressive 14th in the road race, less than one minute behind winner Larry Warbasse. Spencer Petrov took 49th, U23 National Champion Lance Haidet 54th and Cameron Beard 55th.

Justin Lindine Edges Out Stephen Hyde in MTB Thriller

When I spoke with Justin Lindine after the Tran Sylvania Epic held over the Memorial Day weekend, he threw down the proverbial gauntlet for Stephen Hyde to come race the five-day event in 2018. There is no word on the defending national champion’s plan for the 2018 TSE yet, but the two did get the chance to lock squishy forks at the Root 66 Domnarski Farm mountain bike race in Ware, MA on Sunday.

The two riders finished a tight race just one second apart, with Lindine eking out the victory over Hyde. The duo finished nearly eight minutes ahead of the 3rd-place finisher, in case you are wondering what it is like having two of the best in the business come to smash it in your local scene.

Sanne Cant 4th at Belgian Nats, Majerus, Stybar Win

Last time most of us saw Sanne Cant on the bike, she was winning the cyclocross world championships in thrilling fashion. This weekend, the defending cyclocross world champion took to the road for the Belgian National Road Race in Antwerp. Cant finished just off the podium in 4th place ahead of other ’cross notables such as Ellen Van Loy (10th), Laura Verdonschot (11th), Alicia Franck (12th) and Loes Sels (16th).

If Emma White has a closetful of national championship jerseys, Christine Majerus has a CLOSET FULL of Luxembourg national championship jerseys. Majerus picked up her 26th and 27th Luxembourg national championships over the weekend with victories in the time trial and road race. Majerus has won the cyclocross, time trial and road race trifecta every single year since 2010. All of them, every year!

For our final stop of roadnatspalooza, we head to the Czech Republic. Last time we saw former world champion Zdenek Stybar, he coming oh-so-close to winning the Paris-Roubaix. At the Czech national road race, there would be no cat-and-mouse sprint for the title as Stybar went solo to capture the Czech national jersey.

We also learned that Stybar was selected to race for the the Quickstep team in the 2017 Tour de France.

Van der Poel Nearly Climbs the Mountain Again

During the past month or so, we have seen Mathieu van der Poel dominate on the road and on the mountain bike. For an encore, the Dutch phenom took to the track … just kidding … but he did race in the Marathon Mountain Bike World Championships in Singen, Germany over the weekend. Despite starting way back in the grid, Van der Poel finished the race in 4th place, just 2:42 behind winner Alban Lakata of Austria.

If ambition is his crime, maybe we will see him dominate on the track sometime soon. Stay tuned.