Compton wins again with Java Johnny's-Lionhearts International victory

Katie Compton (Rabobank-Giant Offroad) soloed to her second consecutive victory at the Cincy 3 Cyclo-cross Festival’s Java Johnny’s Lionhearts International held at the Sunset Park in Ohio. Her win did not come without a mid-race battle from podium finishers Caroline Mani (SRAM) in second and Sue Butler (River City Bicycles) in third.

“The course today was a lot faster even though it had lots of turns,” Compton told Cyclingnews. “The grass was fast and turns were tacky, there was only one mud bog that claimed Georgia [Gould] on the first lap and me on the third lap when a deep rut sent us off course. Today was just a faster race so that was the hard part, unlike yesterday's slog through the mud.”

The Cincy3 Cyclo-cross Festival’s Java Johnny’s Lionhearts International was held at the Sunset Park, a relatively flatter course than the previous day’s grind through the Cyclo-Stampede held at the Devou Park.

“There were a couple humps built into the perimeter of the park course to keep things interesting,” said festival promoter Mitch Graham. “This track favored faster, tighter racing with lots of tight turns.”

The flatter course allowed the riders to stay grouped together at the start of the race for a longer period of time than on the previous day’s more challenging course. The front riders included Compton along with the previous day’s podium finishers Meredith Miller (Cal Giant-Specialized) and Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) and Caroline Mani (SRAM), Sue Butler (River City Bicycles) and Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team).

“It wasn't so much tactical but we all were riding at a good pace and taking the turns fast so it was easy to stay together then,” Compton said. “There was some tactical racing on the pavement and through the techie sections but most of the race was just fast so that made it harder to get away. It was fun riding with a bigger group for most of the race.”

Each of the top riders took a stab at trying to gain extra time in a solo effort off the front. Flat or hilly, Compton eventually gained the gap she needed on her way to a second consecutive solo win this weekend.

“I think I attacked with a couple laps to go on a short pavement climb before heading into the mud bog and opened up a small gap then held it to the end,” Compton said.

Mani and Butler entered into a two-up battle for second place. Each tried to manoeuvre ahead of the other during sections of the course that best suited her individual abilities. Antonneau led the remaining top ten riders in for fourth place on the day.