Katie Compton wins her eighth title in a row at the 2012 Cyclocross National Championships in Madison, WI. © Cyclocross Magazine
If you’ve been checking Cyclocross Magazine regularly, you may have been wondering why Katie Compton suddenly is spending July on a cyclocross bike in New Zealand, rather than on her mountain bike, as she has in years past. Recently, the cyclocross world rejoiced to hear that Katie Compton was committing herself solely to cyclocross after she announced that she was planning to leave the Rabo-Giant Off-Road team. She’d been with the team for only one season, but found that combining a full cyclocross schedule with a full mountain bike schedule was taking away from her performance in both disciplines.
She told VeloNation that she was “spreading herself too thin,” and now plans to focus her energy on “’cross only.” Compton explained further, saying, “I will be racing ’cross next season but haven’t planned a race schedule just yet. Right now, I’m taking some much needed down time so I can recover and be ready to race again in the fall.”
However, with Compton gone from Rabobank, the team has used the void left by her as a chance to combine with Brainwash, the team of three cyclocross-ing women, including Sanne van Paassen. Between the addition of Sanne van Paassen and the preexisting Rabobank riders Marianne Vos and Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, Rabo-Giant will have a strong team even without a dominant American racer.
Compton is happy about the news, saying, “I’m happy to see that Rabobank has taken over the sponsorship of the Brainwash team and is now supporting those girls. If my spot opened the doors to sponsor more girls, then I think that is great for women’s cycling and Rabobank. The more support women receive, the better the racing gets and that is good for everyone.”
