Here, Sven Nys win the fourth round of the World Cup Series at Roubaix © Bart Hazen
by Kat Statman
It’s a bit of a calm weekend in Euro ’cross, but not in US ’cross (go watch GP Bend folks!). But here, we’re looking at rumors and rumblings: Sven Nys in the peloton beyond 2014? Hydraulic disc brakes on the pro’s bikes, but will the Euro’s adopt?; Jeremy Durrin makes it to the big show; And last, while not a rumor, let’s give a huge shout out to the American women of cyclocross.
Nys Set to Retire?
With his recent success, Nys has indicated that the March 2014 hard-set date of retirement “no matter what” is not really a hard-set date, or at least Landbouwkrediet has reopened negotiations for the Kannibaal to continue his career beyond 2014. With a season of near perfection so far, maybe except for this morning in Antwerp, it would make sense for Nys to want to continue such an illustrious career. But, if he wins the rainbow stripes in Louisville, expect those negotiations to potentially fall through. On numerous occasions, Nys has indicated that he would like to end his career in the rainbow jersey. Maybe, with another Albert win or a first Pauwels win (or heck, maybe even an American win), Nys will have enough burn in his belly to give us a few more years with The General.
Will Euros Go for Discs?
This past weekend saw Tim Johnson break out some hydraulic SRAM disc brakes. Photos and reports have been floating around the Internet for a little while now and rumors hint that there are some SRAM folks riding and racing them. This is the first time that they have shown up on a pro bike, and while pretty ugly (what is with those horns?), from a technology advancement standpoint it is pretty exciting. Maybe we’ll see the Euros catch on to the disc brake revolution once the hydro’s are ready to go. So far, we’ve only seen SRAM’s, while Shimano has been far more tight-lipped and most Euros (except Telenet-Fidea as far as I can tell) are Shimano folks.
In other disc brake news: in that charity race, Boonen and Friends, Stybar finished with a win on a disc-equipped Specialized Crux. Has the racer from the Czech Republic adopted technology that the rest of his Euro counterparts are not ready to yet? It may very well be the case, but don’t hold your breath to see him riding discs when he is up against the rest of the ’cross peloton, peer pressure can be a cruel mistress.
Jeremy Durrin Signs with Optimum-KBS
Most of you probably already know about Jeremy Durrin’s big news, taking the jump to join Optimum-KBS for next year in both road and ’cross. Here’s just a quick shout out to say “Congrats Jeremy,” you’ve been killing it on the East Coast for two years now and it is definitely a well-deserved graduation.
Shout-Out to the American Ladies of ’Cross
There has been a lot going around the Internet world these past few weeks regarding women’s cycling. We heard some good things that came out of the UCI summit, especially when Nys stepped up and showed his support for equality and, of course, Georgia Gould’s continued fight for equality. So we at Cyclocross Magazine definitely want to raise a proverbial glass to the American (and global) women in racing. Now, if only we could have full streaming of the women’s ’cross races and not just highlights right before the men’s … You have to admit, I don’t think anyone is going to complain about more bike racing. Here’s to all women racing, you ladies are awesome and often put together more exciting races than the men!
