Katie Compton’s real season is just beginning. Although she’s had big wins at Cross Vegas and Ohio, the important races are still to come. With the national championships less than two weeks away, and the World Championships in Hoogerheide on February 1st, Compton has been careful to try to keep her leg cramps under control while still earning necessary UCI points and gaining the fitness and training only racing can provide. With rainbow stripes as the goal, gone are the days of racing against B Men. She wants to race against her competitors and know their strengths and weaknesses.
It’s been one year since we did our in-depth interview with Katie, but in the end, not that much has changed. She’s still the quiet, confident and dominant national champion who is aiming for the top step at the biggest races.
In a great warm-up to the upcoming national championships in Kansas City, Compton won last weekend’s UCI World Cup in Koksijde, Belgium. Husband Mark Legg-Compton sent us the inside scoop on how her race went down:
“Katie felt like she had a win in the legs heading into this race,” he says. “She had a poor start after getting bumped off the good line in the first grass/sand section which dropped her to 11th, and on the second half of the course she was 31seconds down when she passed by pit two. Lap two had her 18 seconds down but then she made up seven secondss on the steep sand uphill and descent finally joining the leaders before the end of lap two. Katie felt in control during the race and let Daphny and Hanka fight each other to lead into the sand sections. Katie held back so she could ride her own line.”
On the last lap, Hanka attacked the steep sand hill, while Daphny, who isn’t a strong runner, attempted to block Katie by moving side to side. Katie took the high side of the kill and went after Hanka in hot pursuit, trying to keep her close as they went into the final sand section.
Hanka attacked the sand, led out of the last corner, and took a glance back. “When she looked forward, Katie attacked and easily won the sprint,” Mark recalls.
Tech Note: Katie was riding a brand new set of Edge wheels using 68mm rims and DT 190 hubs with Challenge file tread sand tires at 19psi.
Photo Gallery by Mark Legg-Compton:
