Marianne Vos (Netherlands) retained her UCI World Cyclo-cross title with an unmistakably unstoppable performance in Hoogerheide on Saturday. The Dutch rider broke clear on the opening lap of the race and was never put under pressure by any of her rivals as she saw off the challenges of Eva Lechner (Italy) and Helen Wyman (Great Britain) who finished second and third, respectively.
Compton came into the race as one of the main favourites having secured the women’s World Cup in January, however a slip of the pedals in the opening sector, coupled with a tangle Pavla Havlikova (Czech Republic) saw her drop down towards the back of the field.
Wyman had no such problems as she punched her way to the front and set the pace with Lechner and Vos in quick pursuit.
The British rider made a bobble, and Lechner and Vos pulled out a few seconds lead soon after, as the Belgian duo of Sanne Cant (Belgium) and Ellen Van Loy (Belgium) led the chase. The Italian mountain biker certainly wasn’t letting the defending champion have her own way though as she attempted to break up the rhythm and pace at the front as the pair drew clear.
On the first off-camber sectors Vos’s dominance started to show. She pulled clear of Lechner towards the end of the first lap and with a gap secure it was clear she would not be waiting.
By now Wyman had settled into her own rhythm and, along with Cant, set about chasing down Lechner, but by the end of the first lap Vos had five seconds on Lechner with Wyman and Cant at 19. Compton was a distant 10th at 36 seconds.
While Vos stretched her lead Compton at least began to claw her way back into contention, losing more time to Vos but moving up to fifth before she finally latched onto Wyman and Cant in what looked like the battle for bronze.
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The American briefly held bronze as the riders headed into the third lap as Wyman went into the pits. However, with Lechner starting to fade Wyman and Cant sensed and opening on the podium and they dispatched with Compton on the penultimate lap.
The British rider, on the look out for her first Worlds medal at this level, then dropped her Belgian rival.
At the start of the final lap Lechner was 53 seconds behind the rampaging Vos with Wyman and a recovered Cant at 1:09 and Compton at 1:27.
Vos was faultless throughout, even on the final lap the Dutch rider kept the pressure up but Lechner was in trouble, losing second after second to Wyman, who was in turn being chased hard by Cant. The Italian hung on, Wyman too, to complete the podium yet the day belonged to Vos.
Compton finished a distant 9th, almost three minutes behind the new world champion.
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