Compton sweeps Planet Bike Cup

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Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens) threw up her arms in a victory salute for the second consecutive day at the Planet Bike Cup, round two of the US Gran Prix of Cyclo-cross (USGP) series in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. The US National Champion soloed to the line ahead of second place Georgia Gould (Luna Pro Team) and Sue Butler (Hudz-Subaru) in third.

Compton admitted that her round two win was tougher than her round one win the previous day. "Georgia was right there and there was a lot more pedaling today. I liked yesterday because I could make up time in the turns and you can fake it a little bit in the turns. You can't fake power when you have to pedal on so many straightaways."

Compton increased her lead in the USGP series overall standings heading into the next three rounds held in Louisville, Fort Collins and Portland. The Colorado resident is a sure start for the Fort Collins event held in her own backyard, however, she is unlikely to start in Louisville or Portland.

Butler earned the event's Most Aggressive rider of the day for her tenacious ride into third place. "Last year I had an issue with asthma and it was a hard year," she said. "I have not been on the USGP podium since 2008 in Portland so it is very nice to join the elite ranks of the USGP podium again."

Slower start equals faster finish for Butler

After leading the first lap and half and subsequently finishing fifth place in the previous day's round one of the Planet Bike Cup, Sue Butler (Hudz-Subaru) heeded the advice of her competitor Georgia Gould (Luna Pro) and started the second round several positions back allowing her rivals to do most of the work in the early laps.

"Before the race, Georgia came up to me and said, ‘Sue, don't go out so fast and then you can do better at the end,' and I said, ‘OK, Georgia.'

"I sat back for the first couple of laps but eventually it strung out and we had a nice gap on the other ladies and it was nice to be able to hold on for third place."

On the flip side, Gould slotted in first position straight from the gun which was a sharp contrast to her slower than usual start the previous day which left her playing catchup for second place.

"The course today was fun, yesterday too, but today I felt a little bit better having fun and suffering, not just suffering like I was yesterday," Gould said. "They did a great job putting in a few changes that made the course faster and a different kind of course from yesterday. The fun thing about racing cyclo-cross is that you have to be good on all different kinds of courses and you try to win no matter what the course is like."

Gould set a quick pace in the opening laps that subsequently pulled the fastest riders out of the group. At the end of the second lap the race was between herself, Butler and the previous day's winner Katie Compton (Planet Bike).

The trio pushed open a 10-second margin ahead of chasers Meredith Miller (Cal-Giant-Specialized), Sally Annis (Northeast Bicycle Club), Kathy Sherwin (Hudz-Subaru), Amy Dombroski (Luna Pro), Maureen Bruno Roy (Bob's Red Mill-Seven Cycles), Ashley James (Kenda), Andrea Smith (Minuteman Road Club) and Teal Stetson-Lee (Cal Giant-Specialized).

Kaitlin Antonneau is Cannondale-Cyclocrossworlds' first female rider since former Canadian champ Lyne Bessette. The 17-year-old jumped off the track from racing the collegiate national championships and into her first cyclo-cross race of the season in her new green kit.

She worked her way through the long line of riders and followed a few seconds behind the main group of top ten contenders for the majority of the race.

Compton extended a solo lead on the fourth lap that caused Gould and Butler to put forth their best chase. However, by the start of the fifth lap all three powerhouse riders were separated by five seconds and riding at the same speed, with Butler and Gould unable to make up time on Compton.

Compton finished the race roughly 15 seconds to spare ahead of Gould while Butler finished an additional 10 second behind in third place. Butler's teammate Sherwin muscled into fourth place passing both Miller and Annis on the finish line straightaway.

Full results