Advertisement

It’s been a while since we have done a Rumors & Rumblings, but the return of Pauline Ferrand-Prevot to cyclocross caught our collective eye this week. We’ve also included a few other odds and ends that may be of interest.  

As always, if you have a line on something worth covering, let us know at news [at] cxmagazine.com.

Pauline Ferrand-Prevot Announces Return to Cyclocross

It’s no secret the Women’s racing in Europe has been must-see TV during the past several years. The show is likely to get even better with the return of France’s Pauline Ferrand-Prevot.

Ferrand-Prevot last raced when she won the 2015 Worlds in Tabor. FFP, as she is known to fans, missed the 2015/16 season due to a knee injury and then skipped the 2016/17 cyclocross season because of a variety of ailments.

We saw her win her sixth-straight French Mountain Bike Nationals this summer, so the chances of her returning to the front of the Women’s field this year seem high.

This weekend’s races include the IJsboerke Ladies Trofee Noordvlees van Gool Cyclocross in Essen on Saturday and the Vlaamse Druivencross in Overijse on Sunday.

Adam Myerson Reflects on Year 18 of Running the Verge/Vittoria Series

dirtwire.tv sat down with Adam Myerson for its annual Vittoria Series debriefing after last weekend’s NBX Gran Prix of Cyclocross. After some amazement with how long he has been running the series, Myerson talks about some of the great stories of the 2017 Vittoria series and talks about why NBX brings riders out, even at the end of a long year of bike racing.

Sanne Cant, Rock-Paper-Scissors Star?

Each year since 1992 the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws has awarded the “Kristallen Fiets” (Crytstal Bicycle) award to the top male Belgian rider. In 2016, the newspaper gave an award to the top woman for the first time.

To promote a story on the 2017 women’s award, the newspaper filmed a promo of Sanne Cant playing rock-paper-scissors (Dutch: blad-steen-schaar) against Jolien D’Hoore, the Belgian Road National Champion and World Champion in the Madison at Track Worlds.

You can see for yourself if Cant has a hidden talent.

Speaking of Cant, this from Kaitie Keough made us chuckle.

12 Months of Kevin Pauwels

Based on social media, it is clear Belgian Kevin Pauwels is a favorite American cyclocross fans. Although it did not make the cut in our holiday gift guide, Pauwels’ new 2018 calendar can give fans a whole year with the Marlux-Napoleon Games rider.

The only question is which day of the month is the “Keventh?” Does it change with his UCI ranking?

Check Out the Pros on Strava

It may seem like pro cyclocross riders have nothing in common with us Joe Cat 3s, but they do use Strava, so that’s something, right?

Last week, Velofacts compiled a list of some pro cyclocross riders’ Strava files from November 17 to November 29. Unfortunately, the list currently only includes male riders.

The dates include the Zeven World Cup and Flandriencross races. After that weekend, many riders took off for warmer locales for some mid-season training before the marathon sprint to Nationals and Worlds. The list also provides a look at some of the riders who you can look for in Watopia on Zwift, including Gianni Vermeersch, Toon Aerts, Michael Boros and Dieter Vanthourenhout.