Katie Compton Earns Silver Medal at CycloCross Worlds

1/30/11 – American Katie Compton (Planet Bike-Stevens Bikes) rode to the silver medal in the elite women’s competition at the UCI CycloCross World Championships on Sunday, closing out a season that also saw her win five World Cups and a seventh straight national title. In the elite men’s contest, Jonathan Page (Northfield, NH) was the top American rider in 12th place.
 
“Conditions were nearly identical to yesterday with bright sunshine. It was very cold though, so the track was frozen solid early, but it thawed out to a track that was still fast but quite muddy and slippery,” said USA Cycling CycloCross and Mountain Bike Development Director, Marc Gullickson.

Elite Women
Compton finished second to defending champ Marianne Vos (NED), who attacked on the last lap to claim the world title. By the end of lap one, the American strongwoman was leading a front group that included Vos (NED), Katerina Nash (CZE), and German favorite Hanka Kupfernagel. Doing most of the work at the front, the American kept the pace fast and whittled the group down to just herself, Vos, and Nash by the end of the second lap.  Vos made her winning move in the final lap, leaving Compton and Nash on a long climb and not looking back until crossing the line for her third consecutive world title. Compton, who finished second in 2007 and third in 2009, settled for the silver medal again, 17 seconds behind Vos.  Nash grabbed the bronze.

“Katie was disappointed as she was a big favorite to win, but she was also satisfied because the fast course really favored Vos,” said Gullickson. Next up for the United States was Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo.) in 26th.  Meredith Miller (Fort Collins, Colo./Team TIBCO) had a very good ride as she moved up into the top ten before flatting out and eventually finishing 27th behind Dombroski.  In 30th place was 19-year-old Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY 12) . “A very solid ride for a first year elite,” Gullickson commented.  

Elite Men
Taking the world title in the elite men’s race was Czech Republic rider Zdenek Stybar while Belgians Sven Nys and Kevin Pauwels collected the silver and bronze medals.
 
In a race that was riddled with mishaps for the Americans, Jonathan Page (Northfield, NH) made the early selection, riding as high as second-place, but suffered a puncture in the third lap which lost him quite a bit of time. He worked his way back up to 12th by the finish. After a solid ride, Jeremy Powers (Easthampton, Mass./Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com) grabbed a top-20 finish in 16th while James Driscoll (Winooski, Vt.) crossed the line in 27th. After some solid riding, American strongman Tim Johnson (Topsfield, Mass./Cannondale-CycloCrossworld.com) ended up crashing out of the race at the end of the fourth lap.

Complete Results >
 
Photos >

Elite Men Results
1. Zdenek Stybar (Czech Republic)
2. Sven Nys (Belgium)
3. Kevin Pauwels (Belgium)
12. Jonathan Page (Northfield, NH)
16. Jeremy Powers (Easthampton, Mass./Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com)
27. Jamey Driscoll (Winooski, Vt.)
DNF Tim Johnson (Topsfield, Mass./Cannondale-cyclocrossworld.com)
 
Elite Women Results
1. Marianne Voss (Netherlands)
2. Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo./Planet Bike-Stevens Bikes)
3. Katerina Nash (Czech Republic)
26. Amy Dombroski (Boulder, Colo.)
27. Meredith Miller (Fort Collins, Colo./Team TIBCO-To the Top)
30. Kaitlin Antonneau (Racine, Wis./Peanut Butter & Co TWENTY 12)