Compton on the attack at Short Track Nationals © Mark Legg-Compton
Katie Compton didn’t let a wasp sting on the third lap of the cross country race at the World Cup in Val di Sole, Italy, slow her down as the newly-crowned US national short track champion and reigning cyclocross champ rode to an impressive fourth place in the event. Compton finished just 20 seconds off of ‘s winning pace, while the Czech national ’cross champ Katerina Nash was nipping at her heels in fifth place. Georgia Gould was seventh, Italian champ Eva Lechner eighth and Mary McConneloug 13th.
Compton started the race in 36th and proved that she has the fitness to ride through traffic to make up ground, then hang with the world’s top talent. As her husband, Mark Legg-Compton, reported, Compton has seen improvements with her new medicine to treat hypothyroidism, and her chronic leg cramps have thus far remained at bay. “Katie’s recent training consists of racing and recovery rides,” Legg-Compton said via Katie’s Web site. “That’s all.”
On the men’s side, two American cyclocrossers cracked the top 20, five minutes outside of Nino Schurter’s (Scott-Swisspower) winning time, with Adam Craig (Rabobank-Giant) taking 17th and Todd Wells (Specialized) 19th. Geoff Kabush dropped out of the race midway through.
