Compton sweeps Mud Fund Derby City Cup

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Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) attacked midway through the first lap at the Sunday's Derby City Cup to win her second race of the weekend in Louisville, Kentucky. The Derby City Cup will be Compton's last day of racing Stateside until nationals, as she moves to Europe for the next several months to focus on her European schedule.

Compton enjoyed her Derby City Cup victory, a race that she had targeted to help prepare for her next World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium. "I think the course was really dialed in from yesterday," said Compton. "It's really tacky, it's really fast. It's just a fun flowy course."

Amanda Miller (TIBCO) took the hole-shot, but was passed by Meredith Miller (California Giant-Specialized) as the riders entered the first grass section of the course. Compton took charge at the first sand pit, and the line of riders stretching behind her snaked through the twists and turns of Eva Bandman Park.

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On the second lap Compton led a small chase group by two seconds. The group, comprised of Meredith Miller, Amanda Miller, Nicole Duke (Spy-Marin), and Elle Anderson (California Giant-Specialized) kept eyes on Compton for half a lap before Compton started to bolster her lead. A few seconds back, Caroline Mani (Raleigh-Clement), Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com), and Crystal Anthony (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) made their way through traffic to form up a strong secondary crew of chasers.

Compton continued to extend her lead, which spurred Anderson to make a move. A rejuvenated Elle Anderson jumped away from the chase group, but still lost time on Compton as the US champion patiently churned across the technical sections of the course.

"It's fun when she's [Compton] in sight, but usually it doesn't last too long," said Anderson. "I keep trying. Keep trying every race."

Anderson settled into a rhythm and kept Compton's lead at about 20 seconds for several laps. Meredith Miller, feeling more confident on the technical sections of the course than Saturday, jumped across to Anderson and the Cal Giant teammates rode together for the remainder of the race. Anthony, who placed second on Saturday, had fallen behind after a bad start, but was able to fight her way up to fourth place.

With one lap to go, Compton's victory was in the bag, but as with many US races that Compton attends, the most exciting race of the day was for second place. Anderson and Miller were just about to start their final lap when Miller made a crucial mistake, enabling Anderson to shoot ahead into second place. "In the off camber section coming into one to go, I totally fumbled, and that's when Elle opened up her gap," said Miller. "I couldn't close it. I knew what line I wanted to take, and then I was watching Elle's line, and that made me second-guess myself."

Compton crossed the line in first, followed by Anderson, Miller, and Crystal Anthony in fourth.

The Midwest cyclo-cross calendar continues next weekend on November 15-17 at the Carousel Volkswagen Jingle Cross Rock cyclo-cross race in Iowa City, Iowa.