Arlenis Sierra signs with Astana, Crelan-Charles team unveiled, Hyde and Compton wrap up U.S. Pro CX titles
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Pierre Latour (AG2R-La Mondiale)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Arlenis Sierra of Cuba in the San Luis time trial(Image credit: Tour Femenino de San Luis)
Wout Van Aert (Crelan-Vastgoedservice)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Stephen Hyde (Cannondale) winning the Pan Am Continental Championship for the first time(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Katie Compton (Trek Panace) running in second place behind Nash(Image credit: Dave McElwaine/ www.trailwatch.net)
French rising star Pierre Latour broke his finger Tuesday, according to L'Equipe. The 23-year-old, who won the penultimate stage of this year's Vuelta a España, reportedly fell down the stairs at the Ag2r La Mondiale team training camp. The incident left him with a broken pinky on his right hand.
Fortunately for Latour, the injury apparently won't sideline him for long. He is expected to return to the indoor trainer within a week, and to get back onto the road in three. That should leave him time to get into shape for next season's goals of fighting for GC in a one-week race in 2017 as well as helping Romain Bardet whenever possible.
Arlenis Sierra to join Astana Women's Team in 2017
24-year-old Cuban Arlenis Sierra, one of the breakthrough riders of the women's peloton in 2016, will join Astana next season according to a team release.
Already an established competitor at the Pan Am games coming into this season, Sierra proved herself on a bigger stage with a podium performance and a stage win at the women's Tour de San Luis before going on to take the overall titles in both the Vuelta Internacional Femenina a Costa Rica and the Tour de Bretagne Feminin.
"It will be a pleasure and an honor to race next the other riders of Astana Women's Team in season 2017, it will be the first time in a foreign team for me," Sierra said via the press release. "As a rider, my main goal is to fight for the best result possible in every race: I dream one day to become world champions or win a medal at the Olympic Games, I know that these are very difficult targets but it's not impossible to reach them."
Crelan-Charles team unveiled
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Reigning cyclo-cross world champion Wout Van Aert, closing out the season with Crelan-Vastgoedservice, showed off the kit he'll be wearing in January replete with new sponsor Chez Charles as a member of the Crelan-Charles team on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old Belgian outlined his plans for the future at the team presentation in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium. According to Sporza, he noted that he would continue to focus on cyclo-cross for now, but dreamed of riding the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix one day. The winner of Schaal Sels in 2016, Van Aert get more opportunities on the road next season with Crelan-Charles' sister road squad Verandas Willems-Crelan, a newly Pro Continental outfit that will also feature Stijn Devolder and Timothy Dupont.
Stephen Hyde, Katie Compton wrap up U.S. Pro CX titles
Stephen Hyde (Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com) and Katie Compton (Trek) officially notched U.S. Pro CX titles as the series concluded this past weekend.
Hyde, 29, took control of the standings in September at the Trek CXC Cup and never let go of his position atop the leaderboard. He closed out the season as the convincing number one, with Cannondale teammate Curtis White finishing the season in second.
Compton, 38, surged into the lead at Charm City Cross, briefly relinquished the top spot to Ellen Noble in the middle of October, and then took it back for good with a dominant last two months. Emma White finished as runner-up in the women's ranking.
