Compton solos to Koksijde World Cup victory

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US champion Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) did what she had to do at the third World Cup round of the season amid the dunes of Koksijde, Belgium. In sunny weather conditions, Compton rode away from her rivals halfway through the first lap and never looked back. It’s the second World Cup win of the season for Compton and she extends her lead in the overall standings to thirty points over Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea), who placed third on Saturday afternoon.

Compton didn’t arrive at the North Sea coast with a perfect mindset and she admitted that she’d expected the opposition to be stronger. “I did. I got a gap and tried to maintain my rhythm. The gap kept growing, In the US, Katerina Nash is giving me a hard time. She’s making me work for it. Too bad she and Marianne Vos are not here. I like to chase,” Compton smiled. It was a strange sensation to take such an easy win considering that she didn’t feel comfortable on the bike. “It was running more than riding; it was heavy sand. I was lacking power. I felt clumsy out there. I was tired,” a jet-lagged Compton said.

Things looked different at the very beginning. As the race got underway there was no sign of Compton at the front. Dutch rider Sabine Stultiens (Rabo Women) took a great start and gapped European champion Helen Wyman (Kona). “I always have a good start but she went really hard. I wanted to go fast but not that fast,” Wyman said.

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In the background Compton was in eighth place. She started moving up and most of the time, that worked out fine. When trying to pass Harris on a technical drop, however, things went a little awkwardly. “I rode into her but didn’t intend to do that,” Compton admitted. A little later, Compton overtook Wyman too, while Stultiens faded back.

Suddenly Compton, Wyman and Harris were leading the race. After the Herygers-dune Wyman was no longer able to hold the wheel. “Helen didn’t go as fast as she should’ve gone. Katie was gone,” Harris said. Both British women failed to come back while Compton increased her gap on the section in between the sand sections.

From there, Compton kept increasing her lead up to a massive one-minute advantage. Behind her, Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP), Stultiens and Sophie de Boer (Young Telenet-Fidea) joined the chase group. Halfway through the second lap, Cant accelerated. Wyman lost her wheel and Harris wasn’t able to make up for that lost ground. Wyman went from leading the chase to trying to chase back on. “I went too hard in the first two laps. I hoped to get a gap and then recover but that didn’t work out. You’ve got to try,” Wyman said.

The small gap between Cant and Harris remained relatively stable for the remainder of the race. “I was hoping she made a mistake but that didn’t happen. It’s not bad because now I’ve been on the podium in every World Cup round,” Harris said.

For her part, Cant wasn’t too worried about a comeback from Harris. “I had things under control. In the sand I tried to gain some seconds. Too bad I didn’t win but someone was clearly stronger today. I should be pleased because it’s my best-ever World Cup result,” Cant said.

The next World Cup round is held in Namur, Belgium on December 22 with Compton defending her comfortable lead. “I’ll try to hold it. I don’t want to deal with jet-lag again so we’re staying here. I’ll do the Scheldecross, Overijse, Mallorca, then the World Cup rounds and the Christmas races,” Compton said.

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