Compton and Van Aert lead Cyclo-cross World Cups after US openers - Video

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Watch duo claim victories at Jingle Cross

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USA Champion Katie Compton has experience on this course(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)

Katie Compton (Trek) and Wout Van Aert (Crelan) lead the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup women’s and men’s standings, respectively, after winning the second round at Jingle Cross in Iowa City on Saturday.

Compton dominated the women’s short 37-minute Jingle Cross race, pulling away from her rivals half way through the race and winning solo by 18 seconds over Frenchwoman Caroline Mani and 23 seconds over US compatriot Kaitlin Antonneau.

Her victory was enough to bump her up into the overall World Cup lead, after she had placed third behind Sophie De Boer and Nash in the opener Cross Vegas on Wednesday.

Compton now leads the World Cup standings with 105 points, while Nash is in second with 90 points and De Boer slipped to third with 88 points.

Despite the early lead, Compton says she is not pursuing the World Cup title this season, and is instead placing a bigger focus on winning the World Championships.

Watch the Jingle Cross World Cup - Women

Broken toe not enough to stop Van Aert

Wout Van Aert won the first two rounds of the World Cup: Cross Vegas and Jingle Cross with a broken big toe, proving that he has started his season in unstoppable form.

The current world champion broke his toe when he crashed on a set of stairs during Cross Vegas on Wednesday. He went on to win the opener but upon a visit to the local hospital the next day, an x-ray showed he had broken his left big toe.

He decided to try and start Jingle Cross, regardless of his injury, and had another dominating performance. Not even an early mechanical setback could stop Van Aert from storming to the victory.

Following the mechanical, he pulled back almost 20 positions in the last half of the World Cup, caught and passed lone leader Laurens Sweeck, and won the race solo by 39 seconds ahead of runner-up Kevin Pauwels and 56 seconds ahead of Sweeck.

Van Aert now leads the World Cup standings with 160 points, position ahead of runner-up Sweeck, who has 130 points and third placed Pauwels with 109 points. 

Watch the Jingle Cross World Cup - Men

Kirsten Frattini
Kirsten Frattini
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Kirsten Frattini has been the Editor of Cyclingnews since December 2025, overseeing editorial operations and output across the brand and delivering quality, engaging content.

She manages global budgets, racing & events, production scheduling, and contributor commissions, collaborating across content sections and teams in the UK, Europe, North America, and Australia to ensure audience and subscription growth across the brand.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.