Compton racing her 29er in Canada (Mont Saint Anne World Cup). © Joe Sales
Geoff Kabush (Team Maxxis – Rocky Mountain) took a convincing first career World Cup win in Bromont, Canada yesterday, solidifying his position as North America’s top mountain biker. With his pledge to dedicate himself to a longer ‘cross season, are the back-to-back World Cup podiums a sign of his potential at cyclocross World Cups? Jose Antonio Hermida and Ralph Naef finished second and third, while World Cup leader Julien Absalon broke a chain and finished 17th.
American cyclocrossers Todd Wells (Specialized) and Adam Craig (Giant) landed top ten places, with Wells in ninth and Craig in 10th, just over five minutes down.
In the women’s race, the story of the day had to be Katie Compton’s come-from-behind near-podium ride. After a back row call-up and then getting stuck behind a crash, Compton roared through the field, passing riders everywhere she could, including on the tight singletrack, to battle for the podium.
Just the week before, Compton, who recently was granted a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) for her asthma problems, suffered from an asthma attack while riding in 10th at the Mont Saint Anne World Cup and did not finish. This week, while fighting for fifth, Compton again felt the asthma attack coming and backed off to finish an impressive sixth in her first-ever UCI Mountain Bike World Cup finish.
Why the ongoing asthma problems if Compton now is allowed to use an inhaler? “The Albuterol helps but we’re finding it wears off after an hour of hard racing,” Mark Legg-Compton, Katie’s husband, explained. “There are longer lasting medications, but we need to work through to find the right one which takes some time. Unfortunately it means we have to get another TUE for the new meds.”
The American women had a strong showing, taking fifth through eigth, with part-time cyclocrosser Mary McConneloug (Kenda Seven NoTubes) finishing fifth, Willow Koerber (Subaru – Gary Fisher) in seventh, and Georgia Gould (Luna) in eight.
After her sixth place finish, Katie Compton told Cyclocross Magazine that after studying the course, she is hoping to race the Mountain Bike World Championships in September in Canberra, Australia. However, without a title sponsor, funding is her biggest concern and she’s looking to raise the necessary funds through donations. Check back soon for more details on Compton’s fund raising efforts.
Not to be missed was U.S. Cyclocross National Champion Zach McDonald’s performance in the junior race. McDonald finished fourth after a sixth place last week at Mont Saint Anne.
Full results from Bromon World Cup are here.
