Katie Compton (Spike) solos to victory (Image credit: Cyclingnews.com)
By Brecht Decaluwé in Roubaix, France
With only two weeks left until the cyclo-cross world championships, American Katie Compton left her mark at the legendary velodrome in Roubaix, France. The US national champion overcame what looked like a bad start, moved back to the front and out-classed the rest of the field in the mud.
World champion Hanka Kupfernagel finished second and wins the World Cup series. The German never finished worse than second place in World Cup events and with one more round to go her points lead is insurmountable. Dutch champion Daphny van den Brand struggled with the cold in Roubaix and finished third.
"I'm very happy with this win. It was so hard today as it was so muddy, making for a challenging course," Compton said. It is already the third World Cup victory of the season for Compton although winning a race on the velodrome of Roubaix surely is more special than the other two rounds she won. "It's very special to race here. I always saw Paris-Roubaix on TV. Now I actually got to see the track and I even won on it," Compton said.
