Compton dominates in Nommay World Cup

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US champion Katie Compton (KFC Racing p/b Trek bikes) won her first World Cup round of the season in Nommay (France) on a grey Sunday afternoon. During the penultimate World Cup round Compton was outstanding in the mud. The 39 year-old from Colorado completed a race-long solo towards her 24th World Cup win, her third on the demanding course in Nommay.

"It was a lonely race but you know, I'll take it," Compton said with a big smile, during the post-race interview. "Some days it's good to have a bit of a gap in the beginning. I felt good today and I like the mud. The tyre pressure was good. I felt like I had a good race. I made a couple mistakes here and there but it's hard not to when it's that slippery out," Compton said.

Compatriot Kaitlin Keough (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) was best of the rest at nearly a minute. French champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot pleased the home crowd by winning the battle for the final podium spot. World champion Sanne Cant (IKO-Beobank) didn't have a great day. Nevertheless, her 12th place was just enough to secure the overall victory in the World Cup.

"I preferred to have had a better race and take more points. At least the World Cup is in the pocket. That's at least one thing," a disappointed Cant said.

Behind Compton, Italian rider Alice Arzuffi (Steylaerts-betFirst) clearly dealt well with the mud and she tried to follow Compton. That quickly turned out to be too difficult but she kept second place until mid-race. World champion Cant started OK but faded back. Halfway through the opening lap a mechanical made her lose even more ground. "It started with a blocked chain during the opening lap, making me lose of lot of positions. The first half of that opening lap wasn't great either. For some reason I had a bad day. Hopefully I can leave this here and drive away for 600 kilometres.

"After my mechanical I knew it was over. When I have a good day I probably might get third place but not today," Cant said.

Mid-race Keough, newly crowned British champion Helen Wyman (Kona Factory Team), Christine Majerus (Boels Dolmans) and Pauline Ferrand-Prévot bridged up to Arzuffi. Italian champion Eva Lechner (CLIF Pro Team) was also in the mix for the two final podium spots.

Keough opened up the gas and she quickly gapped her rivals. A handful of seconds further back, Wyman and Majerus were together when Wyman slipped away on an off-camber climb. When hitting the final lap, Keough seemed out of reach for second place. Ferrand-Prévot and Majerus were riding in third place, with Arzuffi and Wyman following shortly.

Ten minutes later, Compton crossed the line while throwing a fist in the air, seemingly with disbelief of what she just pulled off. Keough was delighted with her second place, which reinforces her second place in the World Cup standings. "I'm really happy. I think second was best possible," Keough said. "I didn't have anything left when I finished. It was hard not to make mistakes out there. There's only one World Cup left and hopefully I can stay second."

The French home crowd made a lot of noise when they saw their national champion Ferrand-Prévot taking the final podium spot. Some of her lap times indicate great form ahead of the 2018 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Valkenburg in two weeks time.

"I started really bad. I needed two laps before I got going. The crowd was incredible. It was a good race. I picked up a lot of women. I score a lot of points and next week I'll hopefully be better placed at the start," Ferrand-Prévot said.

Wyman won the sprint for fourth place ahead of Majerus. Arzuffi was sixth, well ahead of compatriot Lechner. Mountain bike star Jolanda Neff (Kross Racing Team) briefly rode in fifth place but faded back to eighth at the finish, finishing just ahead of experienced riders Ellen Van Loy (Telenet Fidea Lions) and Caroline Mani (Van Dessel-Atom). Katerina Nash (CLIF Pro Team) rode an anonymous race and finished 11th, just ahead of world champion Cant.

In the World Cup standings, Cant clinched the overall win as she enjoys a bonus of more than 80 points on Keough, with only 80 points at stake for the winner at the final round in Hoogerheide next week. Lechner remains in third place, at 40 points from Keough. Compton climbs from ninth to fourth place thanks to her win, in striking distance of the podium. Sophie de Boer (Breepark.nl) was absent and drops from fourth to ninth.

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