Vos claims Nommay World Cup victory

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One week ahead of the cyclo-cross world championships in Hoogerheide, the final round of the World Cup was held in Nommay, France. World champion Marianne Vos (Rabo Liv Women Cycling Team) displayed her splendid form with a nearly faultless performance on the muddy Brognard course. It's the second World Cup victory of the season for Vos.

World Cup leader Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) was already certain of the overall victory in the World Cup before the start of the race. She had a good start but quickly faded back. After the first lap she rode in third place at half a minute from Vos and soon after that she pulled out of the race.

"It was a fun course but it's too bad that Katie abandoned as I'd loved to have seen how well I was going against her," Vos told BN De Stem.

As in most of Western Europe there hasn't been much of a winter. Compton suffered from asthma due to her grass pollen allergy.

"I could hardly breathe in the field and the course was so hard that I couldn't recover on the road. My body sputtered and I had to stop," Compton told cyclo-cross.info.  "Of course I'm worried about the world championships but I have suffered from my allergy before. I hope I don't struggle with it next week. I'll rest a lot and take my meds."

With Compton out of the race there wasn't much of a race left. Vos struggled at the first run up the stairs, losing some spots but then cruised at high speed to the win on the demanding course in Nommay.

British and European champion Helen Wyman (Kona) showed she's ready in time for next week's world championships with undoubtedly her best World Cup ride of the season. Wyman led early on, was soon overtaken by Vos but then stood her ground to take second.

Italian champion Eva Lechner (Centro Sportivo Esercito) was her direct rival but she never managed to close the gap on quick starter Wyman.

Further back there was Belgian champion Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP), Nikki Harris (Young Telenet-Fidea) and briefly American rider Elle Anderson (Cal Giant Berry Farms – Specialized). Cant and Harris battled for second place in the World Cup and fourth place in the race. Cant had a good start but then got stuck in the fencing in the first lap. After that she struggled to get back into her rhythm. Halfway into the race she bridged back up to Harris and in the final lap she powered away from her. Nevertheless Harris' fifth place was enough to hold on to second place in the overall standings of the World Cup, holding off Vos and Cant.

A little further back Ellen Van Loy (Young Telenet-Fidea) held off young Kaitlin Antonneau (Cannondale p/b Cyclocrossworld.com) for sixth place. It was the third top-10 result in the World Cup of the season for the 22 year-old American rider, also cracking the top-15 in her other World Cup participations. Hanka Kupfernagel finished eighth.

Full results