Women's news shorts: Compton, Noble secure Pan Am Continental Cyclo-cross titles

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Compton, Noble secure Pan Am Continental Cyclo-cross titles

Katie Compton (Trek Factory Racing) and Ellen Noble (Jam-NCC-Vittoria) earned the elite women’s and U23 women’s title, respectively, at the second annual Pan American Continental Cyclo-cross Championship held in Covington, Kentucky, on Sunday.

Compton rode away from the field early on in the elite women’s race to take a solo victory, and her second consecutive Pan Am Continental Cyclo-cross title. A battle for the remaining podium places ensued that included Amanda Miller, Meredith Miller, Georgia Gould, Kaitlin Antonneau, Courtenay McFadden, Rachel Lloyd and Mical Dyck. In the end, it was Antonneau who took second and Lloyd third.

In the U23 women’s race, Noble took the win ahead of Allison Arensman and Hannah Finchamp.

Verschueren moves into the overall lead of Bpost Bank Trofee rankings after Koppenbergcross

Jolien Verschueren (Young Telenet-Fidea) won the second round of the Bpost Bank Trofee, Koppenbergcross, series on Sunday in Oudenaarde. Her efforts have bumped her up into the overall lead of the eight-eight round series.

In Oudenaarde, Verschueren broke away from her rivals on the second lap and won by nearly a minute ahead of Femke Van Den Driessche (VZW Lotto-Ladiescycling) and her teammate Nikki Harris

Verschueren took the lead of the women’s standings by 1:40 ahead of Harris. The winner of the opening round in Ronse and the previous leader, Pavla Havlikova, did not start in Oudenaarde.

The next round will be held at Flandriencross Hamme on November 29.

Bpost Bank Trofee series women's standings after round two in Oudenaarde

Kasper renews with Boels-Dolmans

Germany's Romy Kasper completed the 2016 Boels-Dolmans roster by renewing her contract for next year. The 27-year old remains with Lizzie Armitstead, Ellen van Dijk, Chantal Blaak, Demi de Jong, Megan Guarnier, Evelyn Stevens, Christine Majerus, Kasia Pawlowska and Amalie Dideriksen.

Canadian Karol-Ann Canuel is the only newcomer to the team for the coming season. 

Boels-Dolmans had a stand-out year with Armitstead claiming the overall World Cup before winning the World Championships, and found success with many of the other riders also scoring victories.

Team manager Danny Stam was happy to retain so many riders from the team. "We were very successful last year, which also had to do with the right balance in the team," Stam said. "We are very pleased that we were able to keep all cyclists and can even add someone like Canuel; she seems to fit seamlessly into the current formation.

"In Romy Kasper we have found a cyclist who will always put the interests of the team first. She is committed to assisting her lead riders in the best possible way. In this capacity, she contributed to our success and we are very happy that she will be part of the team next year".

While Kasper worked as a loyal domestique this season, she has higher aspirations for early next season when results will be important for the selection for Rio.

"My dream is to race in the Olympic Games in 2016 and for that I will need some solid results myself. I am confident that these two missions can be combined," Kasper said.

Romy Kasper wins a stage in the 2014 Internationale Thüringen Rundfahrt der Frauen

World Cup heads to Koksijde

The third round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup heads to Koksijde, Belgium on November 22, where top riders are expected to assemble in the hunt for top UCI points and the overall standings.

After winning round two in Valkenburg, Eva Lechner (Team Colnago-SudTirol) from Italy is currently leading the overall standings ahead of Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) from Belgium, while American Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld) sits in third place. Katina Nash (Luna), who won the opening round at CrossVegas, is sitting in fourth.

Last year, Cant dominated the sandy course in Koksijde to take the victory over Sabrina Stultiens (Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team) and Sophie De Boer (Parkhotel Valkenburg Continental Team).