Katie Compton takes on Luna team at New Belgium Cup
The two-round New Belgium Cup was held over the weekend in Fort Collins as part of the ongoing United States Grand Prix of Cyclo-Cross (USGP). In the fifth and sixth round of the USGP, overall leader Georgia Gould and her Luna team-mate Katherine Nash did
a fantastic job of maintaining their control despite the powerful form of US national champion Katie Compton.
“It was nice except when I came to the race I had forgot my leg warmers,” said USGP leader Gould to the race press. “I wish I could have won, racing in front of the home town crowd, but the second best thing is for Katerina to win.”
Gould couldn’t match the performances of team-mate Nash and rival Compton, but managed to finish on the third podium spot both days and maintain her series lead with 248 points. In Saturday’s round one of the New Belgium Cup, Nash just barely defeated Compton
with a one-second advantage, 1:14 ahead of Gould. Another Luna rider, Amy Dombroski, finished in fourth.
"I just wanted to ride and not make mistakes, but I knew if I rode hard I could grab a couple seconds here and there," said Nash. "Once we hit the pavement, I hit it right away and hoped for the best. I just pedalled as hard as I could, and it worked out
for me. I think I had a little bit more in the tank at the end."
Sunday’s race was when Compton hit her stride. She learned from the previous day and took it easy early in the race. Gould was leading the pack by the end of the first lap, eventually handing the lead over to her Czech team-mate Nash, seven seconds ahead
of Compton. The Czech rider could not maintain the gap and in the final two laps, Compton climbed to a 15 second lead and took her eighth season victory.
"It felt a lot better than yesterday - it definitely hurt a lot, but it felt good to win today," said Compton. "I come into every race wanting to win and do my best. I was a little disappointed yesterday about the mistakes I made technically, and I wanted
to feel better, have better legs and be smoother."
Gould was another minute behind her team-mate in Sunday’s race. Dombroski finished in fifth behind Meredith Miller, just off the podium. Compton now stands in second overall in the series with 190 points. Miller stands in third with 169, followed by Katherine
Sherwin with 110, Dombroski with 107 and Nash with 90.
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