Former US elite men’s cyclocross national champion Curtis White announced he would retire at the end of of the month, after a 12-year-career that spanned cyclocross and road competitions.
“It’s time. This is something that I’ve been thinking about for some time, and I felt like announcing it now, while I still have some racing left, allows me to retire from racing on my terms and no one else’s,” White told Cycling News.
The 29-year-old from upstate New York was best known for his accomplishments in cyclocross, earning 44 elite UCI victories, including a national title in 2022 and a Pan-American win in 2018. He represented the US at cyclocross Worlds 11 times across junior, U23 and elite divisions, with a career best 11th as a junior in Louisville and 12th place as an elite in Fayetteville.
“There seemed to be an alignment of feeling like I’ve given what I could, being almost 30, and it being time to focus on family,” he said of his decision to make the announcement this week.
“I feel blessed and fortunate to have spent so many years competing at a high level and making cyclocross my profession. To all of the people who have supported me through my career, I can not thank you enough.”
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White’s focus on cyclocross began as a U23 rider in 2013 when he signed with Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com. After nine years there until the team folded, he has raced the last three seasons with the Steve Tilford Foundation Racing Team, winning the USCX series twice and the elite national title.
White will make three more starts and finish his racing career at the end of this month with the Cyclocross World Cup in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands, as his final race.
“Regarding what I plan to do next, I do not know. I hope to remain involved in the sport as an advocate, mentor, and coach. Cyclocross and cycling will always be part of me, but the full scope of my involvement going forward is not yet clear.”
Owen Cole, Gage Hecht lead new US domestic team in North Carolina
Team Winston-Salem officially launched their 2025 as a US domestic elite programme on Thursday, with a focus on national criterium and road races. Former US U23 and collegiate road champion Owen Cole leads the men’s road team and Gage Hecht, a three-time US U23 cyclocross champion, will focus on mountain bike and gravel events.
The team includes 13 riders on the men’s roster and will field a women’s squad, currently with five riders, including Brittany Parffrey, who raced the last two seasons with Miami Nights.
“Team Winston-Salem is fielding a formidable roster of professional cyclists for our first season. Team Winston-Salem isn’t here to just play nice—we’re here to train hard, leave our marks where we compete and bring trophies back home,” Jon Hamblen, team director and a former pro cyclist, said in a press release.
“Our team includes many of the nation’s most talented riders, and we have our eyes set on quickly emerging as a preeminent Domestic Elite Team.”
Cole, 21 years old, returns to his home state after a year with UAE Team Emirates Gen Z, where he had a podium on the time trial stage at Tour of Sharjah in the UAE and a top 10 at Gran Premio Della Liberazione. He also won a bronze medal at U23 time trial national championships.
On the road, he will team with a mix of veterans and aspiring riders 24 or younger, including Jules van Kempen, a dual citizen of the USA and the Netherlands who specializes in cyclocross, and Gregory Santiago Zapata, who races with a Canadian licence and won a Sprint title on the track as a junior.
Flow Automotive is the title sponsor of the new cycling team. Salem Sports Events and Riazzi, Rhyne & Swaim Investment Group are gold sponsors. Other key sponsors are National Cycling Center, Haro Bikes, Julbo Eyewear and Shelco.
Hamblen remains connected with Velocious Sports, which will serve as a development feeder programme for Team Winston-Salem. This past season Hecht raced for Velocious Sports.
Men’s 2025 roster
- Owen Cole (USA)
- David Davenport (USA)
- Will Hardin (USA)
- Gage Hecht (USA)
- John Heinlein (USA)
- Francis Juneau (CAN)
- Jules van Kempen (USA)
- Caleb Maxham (USA)
- Zachary Rivenbark (USA)
- Clayton Travis (USA)
- Brooks Wienke (USA)
- Eli Woodard (USA)
- Gregory Santiago Zapata (CAN)
Women’s 2025 roster
- Madison Gallager (USA)
- Rebecca Lang (USA)
- Brittnay Parffrey (USA)
- Sierra Sims (USA)
- Nadine Visser (RSA)
Salt Lake City criteriums rebrand as Utah Crits for 2025
When the American Criterium Classic rolls into the Salt Lake City area on Saturday, June 14, riders and teams will head south of the Utah capital to Sandy for the newly-rebranded LHM l CC Utah Crits. A new course near the city hall at Sandy Promenade will showcase the second round of the series.
Pro racers will compete for a $20,000 prize purse, split evenly between men’s and women’s categories. A second day of racing on Sunday follows with laps around America First Field, the stadium which hosts Real Salt Lake and Utah Royals soccer teams.
The Larry H. Miller Group of Companies, which sponsored the Tour of Utah stage race, moved from presenting sponsorship to title sponsorship this year. In 2024 Sandy hosted the ACC stop in early July on the America First Field course, with Kendall Ryan (L39ion of Los Angeles) and Ulises Castillo (iSpeed-Felt) taking the elite victories.
This year’s ACC begins June 6 at the three-day Saint Francis Tulsa Tough.
Tour of the Gila opens five-day UCI stage race with ITT
The 2025 Tour of the Gila, a UCI stage race for men and women in south-west New Mexico, announced it will move the individual time trial stage to the opening day, Wednesday, April 23. The five-day stage race will include one circuit race and three road stages, concluding Sunday, April 27.
With the UCI stages beginning on April 23, some of the amateur divisions will begin competition on April 24 with the Silver City to Mogollon Road Race, while other divisions will start with the Inner Loop Road Race on April 25.
“Taking feedback from veteran racers to heart, we are returning to a format that allows amateurs to experience more of what they enjoy most about Tour of the Gila: road racing,” race director Jack Brennan said. “The reordered stages could also affect race dynamics. We’ll see how it plays out.”
In previous years the Mogollon Road Race was used as the opening stage and the ITT was contested on the third day. The race against the clock will now align the general classification for 2025.
Last year Lauren Stephens (Cynisca) earned her first overall victory in the Tour of the Gila for elite women while Tyler Stites (Project Echelon Racing) won the elite men’s overall title.
