Katie Compton opens round 1 of Trek CXC Cup with victory
National champ Katie Compton motors away from a lead group to take the victory in round one of the Trek CXC Cup in Wisconsin
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Katie Compton (Trek Factory Racing) won day one of the Trek CXC Cup on Saturday in Waterloo, Wisconsin.
Georgia Gould (Luna) finished second with Caroline Mani (Raleigh-Clement) third.
Compton made her move going through the start-finish at the end of the second lap, attacking a lead group containing Gould, Mani, Gabby Durrin (Neon Velo) and Meredith Miller (Noosa Professional Cyclocross Team).
She stayed away, building a lead of more than 20 seconds at one point. Gould jumped away from the chase to clinch the runner-up spot on the day.
“It was hard. It was really fast. And then it got too windy,” Compton said with a laugh. “It was fun, though. It was more technical the faster you rode it. And it was really bumpy too, so I was trying to be smooth through the turns and then power through the bumps.”
It was hot as well, but the national champion said that didn’t faze her.
“It’s okay, it’s been hot in Colorado,” she said. “I noticed it in the last lap, but the breeze kind of helped.”
Gould said she didn’t know how everyone else was feeling in the chase group, so she improvised.
“I was at the front and I just capitalized on a mistake someone made behind and just tried to punch it and open up a gap a little bit and hold on to the finish. It was a very simple strategy. Thankfully it worked.”
Mani had been planning to attack at the same moment, as Miller went down going into a barrier, but when Gould made her move, that was that.
“She had a gap and it was not possible for me to close the gap,” said Mani.