Women’s cross weekend goes to form

by Ben Atkins at 12:26 PM EST

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Categories: Pro Cycling, Cyclocross, Race Reports and Results

Results in women’s cyclocross racing went as expected on both sides of the Atlantic this weekend. World champion Marianne Vos (DSB Bank-Nederland Bloeit) added a second European title to her already impressive palmares, while US champion Katie Compton (Planet Bike) proved too strong for the domestic peloton in both races of the Boulder Cup Weekend.

As this was only the third race of her season so far, Vos was forced to start a long way back in the starting grid. Despite this, the 22-year-old World champion refused to panic and made her way through the field in the race’s early stages. She caught an early attack from compatriot Daphny Van Den Brand (ZZPR.nl) and accelerated as more riders tried to join the Dutch duo. Once clear, Vos never looked like being caught and finished alone ahead of Van Den Brand; Great Britain’s Helen Wyman (Kona/FSA) came in third.

"It was generally good riding round with the only real obstacle being a few short climbs,” Vos told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. “That suited me extremely well. Those bumps I could handle well and then I could always get back up to speed."

Despite this being just Vos’ third race of 2009/10 (her first was last month’s Nacht van Woerden, which she won and her second was last weekend’s Koppenbergcross, where 2 punctures ended her race) Vos fully intends to do her rainbow jersey justice. Her main targets will be the Dutch and World championships in January, “but I want to ride the whole season as I always do on the road,” she confirmed. “I wear the rainbow jersey and I think that I should show it at the races.”

For third place Wyman this represented a first ever medal at this level, but the Englishwoman is already raising her sights at the two biggest riders of the season so far. “I have to put my head down now,” she said in her latest blog, “and work hard to close the gap to Vos and Compton, and fingers crossed that can start in Nommay next week.”

The mud of Boulder, Colorado proved to be to Katie Compton’s liking as she took the lead on lap one of both Saturday and Sunday’s races. A quality field had no answer to Compton’s pace as Georgia Gould and Alison Dunlap (both Luna Chix) completed the podium on Saturday, while Amy Dombroski (Richard Sachs-RGM) and Dunlap on Sunday.

This coming Sunday’s World Cup race in Nommay, France will be the first rendezvous of the season for all the big guns as Compton, Vos, and Hanka Kupfernagel are all due to start.

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