Compton beats Vos at Rome World Cup

Image 1 of 9

Katie Compton (Trek Cyclo-cross Collective) won the sixth and penultimate round of the 2013-2014 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup at the fast but wet Capannelle race course in Rome, Italy. Thanks to her fifth World Cup victory of the season, Compton did more than enough to secure the overall World Cup title.

She rode most of the race in front together with world champion Marianne Vos (Rabo-Liv Women Cycling Team) and then outpowered her halfway through the final lap to finish 24 seconds ahead of Vos. It's third time in a row that Compton has beaten Vos. Italian champion Eva Lechner (Centro Sportivo Esercito) pleased the few local spectators by taking her first podium spot of the season at the Ippodromo delle Capannelle.

"I'm happy with the way I rode, being able to attack in the end and carry it on," Compton said in the post-race interview. The 35-year-old American was delighted with her overall victory.

"This is great. It feels really good to be winning lately. I haven't won here before. I have good legs and that's always nice. It's exciting to win. I wasn't expecting the mud here in Rome."

Compton wasn't confident about whether or not Vos was in good form. "You never know how hard the other person is working. She was riding really well at the switchbacks and accelerating very well. I knew I was strong in the mud. It was hard in the power sections, because there's always a headwind. I didn't want to do too much work at the front."

Rain during the races in the youth categories turned the course into a wet but speedy affair in Rome. That changed when the women started in the afternoon although the wind was still a factor. Top favourites Compton and Vos both had a good start. They followed early leader Ellen Van Loy. Halfway through the first lap, Compton and Vos moved forward and everybody but Van Loy got dropped. By the end of the first lap, Van Loy faded, too.

During the second lap, Compton kept the pace high with Van Loy losing ground. On the long road back towards the grand stand, Van Loy clearly struggled with the crosswinds. The Belgian rider was caught by Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Rabo-Liv Women Cycling Team) and Lechner early in the third lap at nearly half a minute back from the two leaders. European champion Helen Wyman (Kona) was a lone chaser 10 seconds further back.

Halfway through the third lap, the sun came out and Vos struggled for the first time to keep up with Compton, but she didn't crack. Early on in the final lap, Vos tried to turn things around. She attempted to catch Compton by surprise by taking the muddy inside of a corner while Compton made a wide turn to maintain her speed. The move was quickly neutralized.

Halfway through the final lap, when taking on the endless switchbacks, Compton gained ground on Vos. This time around, the world champion was unable to close the gap and Compton was gone. In the background, Lechner distanced Ferrand-Prevot towards a podium result on home soil. Compton had a lot of time to celebrate the victory. A mud-clad Vos finished second at 24 seconds. The small home crowd went wild when Lechner crossed the line in third place at 1:10 after Compton, having gotten rid of Ferrand-Prevot in the final lap.

British champion Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) only managed a distant ninth place in Rome, but maintains her second place in the World Cup. Belgian champion Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) was fifth in Rome and is third overall with Vos on her heels. In three weeks' time, the final round of the World Cup will happen in Nommay, France.

Full Results