Compton triumphs in Koksijde

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US national champion Katie Compton (Planet Bike) won the third round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium with a dominant ride on the sandy course.

The American beat runner-up Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl) by 2:27, with Sanne van Paassen (BrainWash) rounding out the top three 19 seconds later. For Compton it was her third victory in Koksijde, which will host the 2012 world championships. It's her second World Cup win of the season and her eighth career victory in the World Cup. However, due to Compton's absence in Plzen, Van den Brand is the new leader of the World Cup.

“I felt good and my skills were on,” Compton said after her win. “After my not so good start I was patient until I had the space to move up. I waited half a lap and then I went forward. It's easier to be leading on a hard course like this one. I kept thinking that I got to keep pushing,” Compton said.

Van Paassen tried hard to stay with Compton but after completing the opening lap the young Dutch woman trailed the US-champion by eight seconds. Hanka Kupfernagel (Itera-Stevens) and Daphny van den Brand (ZZPR.nl) were chasing together twenty seconds further back.

From there on Compton kept clocking lap times that were at least half a minute faster than her rivals. She simply outclassed the competition with an impressive combination of great skills on and off the bike, combined with sheer power. European champion Van den Brand was able to bridge across to Van Paassen but they kept losing time to Compton. Van Paassen needed to finish second to secure her leader's place in the World Cup but she ran out of gas. Van den Brand claimed second place and the World Cup leader's jersey but lost almost two and a half minutes to Compton after just 45 minutes of racing.

“More than two minutes, that's a lot,” Van den Brand said. “I wouldn't consider it to be a fair showing of our ability. During the first laps I felt cold and I couldn't do anything. I also couldn't click into my right pedal which was bothered me a lot. I had to pedal with one leg and hop off the bike much earlier than wanted on the dunes. I didn't have my day,” Van den Brand said.

Cant wins the battle for fourth

Almost a minute behind Van Paassen the battle for fourth place was contested between Kupfernagel, Sophie de Boer (ZZPR.nl), Pavla Havlikova, Christel Ferrier-Brunea and young Belgian champion Sanne Cant (BKCP-Powerplus). Eventually it was the Cant who emerged to take fourth.

“I went better through the sand as the race went on. In the last lap I led the group but crashed. I expected everybody to pass me but when I looked back they were still trailing me by 50 metres,” Cant said.

Kupfernagel won the sprint for fifth place ahead of De Boer. She told Cyclingnews she lacked race rhythm and stamina, especially since the race went well over the forty minutes.