Compton returns to winning ways

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Katerina Nash may have gotten the better of Katie Compton on day one, but the second round of the USGP of Cyclo-cross New Belgium cup was all Compton.

The US champion displayed a bit more of the spark which has made her such a dominant force in cyclo-cross, bouncing back from the previous day's defeat to claim her eighth win of the season and her first victory since the World Cup in Aigle, Switzerland in October.

Nash, on the other hand, lacked some power and was unable to hold the pace of Compton, coming in second ahead of her teammate Georgia Gould.

"It felt a lot better than yesterday - it definitely hurt a lot, but it felt good to win today," said Compton. "I come into every race wanting to win and do my best. I was a little disappointed yesterday about the mistakes I made technically, and I wanted to feel better, have better legs and be smoother."

Now residing near Boulder, Compton was pleased to be pushed to her limits without having to endure the long hours of travel to Europe to find hard racing.

"I'm so excited to have the competition in the US," Compton said. "Katerina and I always throw down in the World Cups, so it's good competition an hour from home, and you can't beat that."

Compton bides her time

Compton let others take the lead early on the first lap, with Maureen Bruno Roy (Seven Cycles) taking the hole shot and eventual third place finisher Georgia Gould hitting out hard to take the lead shortly thereafter.

Compton took over the lead mid-way through the first lap, but a bad line on a slippery descent brought the Planet Bike rider to a near halt, allowing Gould to shoot by on the inside and reclaim the lead. That move, however, provided Compton with a bit of knowledge that would benefit her later on.

"[Georgia] took a better line, and when she passed me I realised that was the better line," Compton explained. "It was good because I knew to take that line on the rest of the laps.

"It's hard to tell because sometimes you can dial it in during the pre-ride and another race gets on the course and lines change. You kind of look for the best line each lap."

Gould, the USGP series leader, kept the pressure on but her time up front would be limited, as a stumble over the barriers pushed her back into third behind her teammate Nash.

"I tripped on the barriers and then it took me a little bit to get going because the section after it was really bumpy," Gould said.

Despite the stumble she said her performance was improved over the previous day.

"I was riding much better today technically, but I just didn't have the legs. I didn't have the little extra, but I tried my best - it's all you can do."

Nash, who was the more technically proficient rider on the previous day, could not close down the seven-second gap to Compton on the much faster course.

The pair held its distance steady until two laps to go when Compton finally cracked the 10-second barrier and ensured that she would get her revenge on the Czech champion.

"I knew Katerina and Georgia were right behind me," said Compton. "I was definitely taking one lap at a time today, just trying to be smoother. I tried to put the pressure on where I could, and recover on the downhills.

"I tried to just stay within myself and make sure I had some gas in the tank in case Katerina caught or if I made mistakes. Luckily I was able to keep it smooth and maintain that gap."

Nash conceded that, "Katie had a very strong race, I think I rode really strong, but I just wasn't as good as Katie today," adding that she preferred the muddier conditions on Saturday: "I like it sloppier - today it was still very challenging course, but I made a few small mistakes."

Nash held on for second, while Gould powered to the line minutes ahead of the next chase group, led home by Meredith Miller (California Giant Berry-Specialized).

Miller had been fighting a close battle with the other Luna team rider, Amy Dombroski, but managed to unhinge her in the final few hundred metres.

"We were trading pulls and I thought maybe I could get her in the last couple power sections. I was actually surprised I had gapped her because she is riding super strong and I knew it would be hard to drop her," said Miller.