Homefield advantage proved to be good for Katerina Nash (Luna Chix) as she took a hard-fought victory in yesterday’s cyclocross World Cup race in Tabor, Czech Republic. The race was situated just 20km from the Czech champion’s hometown of Prachatice and so was racing in front of friends and family, as well as a big crowd of supportive compatriots.
"Winning a World Cup race, and to do so at home, is great,” Nash told cyklokros.cz. “I was really helped by the crowds. I have a really good feeling and I thank everybody here, I enjoyed it."
Nash was the strongest of a group of five riders, which escaped the rest of the race midway through the forty-minute race. The local rider was accompanied by Dutchwomen Daphny van den Brand (AA Drink-Leontien.nl) and Sanne van Paassen (Brain Wash), Frenchwoman Lucie Chainel-Lefevre, and German champion Hanka Kupfernagel (Stevens).
Kupfernagel was the first to fade, with Chainel-Lefevre clinging on, but soon it was just Nash and the two Dutchwomen as they entered the closing stages of the race. Midway through the final lap Nash finally managed to break away alone, with van den Brand vainly chasing.
Despite the best efforts of the European champion Nash managed to hold on to the finish to take the victory ahead of a jubilant home crowd, with van den Brand six seconds behind. Van Paassen was third, just 14 seconds back, with Chainel-Lefevre holding on to take fourth; the Czech Republic’s race was completed by Pavla Havlikova (Telenet-Fidea) finishing in fifth place.
In the absence of US champion Katie Compton (Rabo-Giant), who won the first round of the World Cup in Plzen, Nash takes the lead in the season-long competition, thanks to her third place in the previous race. She leads 2010/11 series winner van Paassen by 105 points to 95, with the next round in Koksijde, Belgium, at the end of November.
Result Tabor World Cup
1. Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Chix
2. Daphny van den Brand (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl
3. Sanne van Paassen (Ned) Brain Wash Wielerploeg
4. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (Fra) France
5. Pavla Havlikova (Cze) Telenet-Fidea
Standings after two rounds
1. Katerina Nash (Cze) Luna Chix 105pts
2. Sanne van Paassen (Ned) Brain Wash Wielerploeg 95
3. Daphny van den Brand (Ned) AA Drink-Leontien.nl 90
4. Lucie Chainel-Lefevre (Fra) France 68
5. Pavla Havlikova (Cze) Telenet-Fidea 61
6. Helen Wyman (GBr) Kona Factory Racing 61
7. Katie Compton (USA) Rabo-Giant Offroad Team 60
8. Sabrina Schweizer (Ger) Focus Mig Team 50
9. Amy Dombrowski (USA) Crankbrothers-The Race Club 48
10. Sanne Cant (Bel) Boxx Veldritacademie 44