Compton rides solo to second place in near World Championships replay
Marianne Vos (Rabo Women) stamped her authority on the opening round of the women’s cyclocross World Cup on her home turf in Valkenburg, Netherlands. Vos rode alone for nearly all of the five laps, extending her lead over second place Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) on each round.
The win gets Vos’ cyclocross campaign off to a perfect start, and though she explained after the race that she has a break coming, the efforts of the Dutchwoman mirrored that from last year’s World Championships, when she dominated with another solo victory.
Compton rode away early from a small chasing group and established her spot in second place, eventually somewhat distancing the chasing women behind.
Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea) rode a strong second half of the race to grab the final podium spot, ahead of Helen Wyman (Kona) and Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Faren Kuota).
After the race, Vos explained her relentless style to reporters, a style that allowed her to win by more than 90 seconds.
“It’s a hard circuit, you have to push every meter to get on top of the Cauberg, so it’s hard anyway,” she admitted. “You have to have an advantage to stay in the lead. I know the rest are continuing to push, so I’ll do the same.
“We arrived yesterday, and you get those good memories again. It causes an extra thrill to be back here and racing cyclocross.”
Coming off a splendid road season that saw her take the road race title in Florence, Vos will deploy a similar winter program as last year.
“I’ll do one more race and then a little rest,” she said. “I still feel good, so it’s hard to take my rest period now, but I think I’ll need it for the rest of the season.”
Wyman took the lead early on the fast and dry Valkenburg course, with temperatures allowing for sleeveless kits and bib shorts. Vos swooped into the lead on a downhill into a hairpin, and as she climbed up the other side, she opened a gap that she would only extend from there.
The Rabobank rider took a slight advantage over the trio of Wyman, Compton, and Harris and began extending it as lap two began. Meanwhile, Wyman and Compton were pulling away slightly from Ferrier-Bruneau and Harris. The first duo was stuck 18 seconds to Vos, and had a couple seconds on the duo behind them beginning the second lap.
Compton used lap two to pull away from the rest of the chasers, but Vos already had the pressure turned up high, and that quickly, the race became about second place. Vos had pulled out to 38 seconds ahead of the American to begin lap three, while the trio of Wyman, Harris, and Ferrier-Bruneau were working together at 48 seconds back.
Lacking the form from the road that Vos exhibits at the start of the cyclocross season, Compton looked much more sluggish on the run-ups and in her accelerations, but the Trek Cyclocross rider was still able to extend on the riders behind her. Through lap four and into the final round, Vos was out to 1’17”, and Compton was 21 seconds ahead of Harris, who had begun to move away from her compatriot Wyman and the Frenchwoman Ferrier-Bruneau.
The top five rode cleanly to the finish, with Vos taking the 60 points for the victory, and Compton and Harris each satisfied with the podium spots behind the dominant Dutchwoman.
UCI Cyclocross World Cup Round #1 – Valkenburg Brief Results:
1, Marianne Vos (Rabo Women) in 37’57”
2, Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) at 1’35”
3, Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea) at 1’52”
4, Helen Wyman (Kona) at 2’03”
5, Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Faren-Kuota) at 2’11”
6, Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea) at 2’20”
7, Ellen Van Loy (DNCS-Pro 2012) at 2’29”
8, Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) at 2’52”
9, Annefleur Kalvenhaar (Giant Dealerteams) at 3’05”
10, Caroline Mani (Raleigh-Clement) at 3’30”
World Cup Standings after Round #1:
1, Marianne Vos (Rabo Women) 60 points
2, Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) 50 points
3, Nikki Harris (Telenet-Fidea) 45 points
4, Helen Wyman (Kona) 40 points
5, Christel Ferrier-Bruneau (Faren-Kuota) 35 points
6, Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea) 30 points
7, Ellen Van Loy (DNCS-Pro 2012) 28 points
8, Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) 26 points