Hat trick for Compton in Ohio

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Katie Compton (Planet Bike/Stevens) dominated once again at the Cincinnati UCI3 Cyclocross Festival’s final round, the Harbin Park presented by Biowheels and United Dairy Farmers. The course at Harbin Park was changed significantly from last year, and it was a favorite of many racers.

“What I really like about coming here is that you have three completely different courses in three days and the prizes are really good,” said Compton. “I don’t know why more elite women don’t come.”

The women’s race followed the same script that had been written over the past couple of days. Sue Butler (Monavie Cannondale) got the hole-shot, while Compton, who did not pre-ride the course, was content to follow for a while before riding off to a dominating win.

It was an uneventful ride for the United States of America Champion, other than haggling with hecklers about the acceptability of certain beers when they offered her a can of Pilsner. When a bottle of microbrew was produced the following lap, she obligingly scrubbed the brakes, took the hand-up and chugged a good portion before dismounting for the barriers.

“At first I wasn’t going to, since this is a UCI race and we’re not supposed to take feeds,” she said. “But I had yelled back at them ‘how about a microbrew?’ the lap before. So when they actually had one, I felt kind of obligated.”

Still, the hand-up paled in comparison to the previous day, when the same crew was (successfully) offering the professional men hand-ups not of beverages, but of lawn darts.

Behind Compton the race was anything but uneventful. Butler, Laura Van Gilder (C3 Athletes Serving Athletes) and Barbara Howe (Vanderkitten) were locked in a three-way, wheel-to-wheel battle. Butler went over the handlebars with two laps remaining. As spectacular as it was, she really didn’t lose any time to the other two as the section was so slow, and the battle came down to the finish.

Harbin’s finishing straight is a 200 metre uphill, grass straight featuring a headwind. As announcer Mayhew put it, “you see the finish in front of you, but you still have two minutes to go”. Asked if it was the closest thing to a road sprint is cyclo-cross, Van Gilder replied: “Yes, it sure is. I wasn’t going to put in an effort, only to get attacked.”

With Van Gilder’s legendary sprint, the onus was one Howe and Butler. But Howe was gapped with only a quarter lap remaining, leaving Butler in the unenviable position of leading out Van Gilder in the sprint. Butler kept it close, but couldn’t fend off Van Gilder’s power.