16.dec.2007
2007
Cyclocross USA National Champ is Katie Compton
:: Women on the Course!
Katie
Compton took her decisive win in keeping with
the theme of her 2nd in the World ranking. Close,
but not enough, was Proman/Paradigm rider Rachel
Lloyd, with Georgia not quite having it today
in third.
The
TeamCICILE girls from SoCal had a few good
finishes, with Carolyn Popovic pulling an awesome
19th. Christie Pleiss was less than one minute
behind in 27th. Dorothy Wong finished 48th, with
Heidi Kanayan in 52nd.
1
Katie Compton
2 Rachel Lloyd
3 Georgia Gould
4 Kerry Barnholt
5 Maureen Bruno-Roy
6 Sue Butler
7 Shelley Olds
8 Melissa Thomas
9 Amy Wallace
10 Wendy Williams (River City)
Full
Results
11.dec.2007
2007-08
Cyclocross USA National Championships :: Women
on the Course!
2008
will see the largest women's field in Cyclocross
in the US ever as 100 women huddle on the start
line of the Elite CycloCross National Championship
race. In this one race, more women than have ever
started a mountain bike National Championship,
and rivaling the Redlands Classic Bicycle Race
for female entries. One reason for such participation
is the cross disciplinary nature of cyclocross-
drawing participants from both road and mountain.
Mountain bike US National Champion Georgia Gould
will be lining up with the likes of Lara Kroepsch
of Team Lipton. Missing from the field is Elite
Road National Champion Mara Abbott, whose talent
was first recognized racing cyclocross in Boulder.
Maybe in 2008, Mara?
Women's
participation in cyclocross could be attributed
to the growing popularity of both women's teams
and cyclocross. In Southern California, long-time
cyclocrosser Dorothy Wong helped launch a women's
team in order to develop a more competitive field
in the region. TeamCICLE.org fields 8 Elite women
and 2 juniors as well as masters and amateur women.
Women's fields have grown from none to 20 women.
Dorothy recalls racing in the early days when
there were no classes for women, and encourages
all women to try the sport, with demo bikes from
Specialized Bicycles/Montrose Bike Shop and Trek
and Redline Bikes from JAX Bike Shops and clinics
provided by CycleTherapy
at the SoCalCross.com
Prestige Series in Southern California.
team
CICLE's Heidi Kanayan, Christie Pleiss and Dorothy
Wong
at Storm the Beach Cross in Oceanside, CA
© Tonya Bray
In
NorCal, the team VeloBella has grown into a National
phenomenon with 14 Elite women racing in the National
Championships. The team was founded by Sabine
Dukes in an effort to encourage women to ride,
and build a strong community. The team have grown
from a small group of women racing out of the
Bay area to hundreds of women across the country
sporting the kitty in the bike basket kit.
While
the LUNA Chix of CLIF Bar's LUNA Bar for women
typically fields at least half the podium at every
NORBA National Mountain Bike Series Race, only
past National Champion and National Mountain Bike
Series winner Georgia Gould is slated to start
the Cross Nats.
The
women's Tough Girl team out of Boulder, Colorado
will also field athletes, as well as women's Elite
road teams Diet Cheerwine and Team Lipton.
Defending
National Champion Katie Compton (Spike), who has
been competing in and winning World Cups in Europe,
will make another go at Georgia this weekend after
taking second to her in the USGP finals in Portland,
Oregon two weeks ago. Other promising riders to
win the National Championships include Maureen
Bruno-Roy (IF/Wheelworks) and Boulderite Kerry
Barnholt (Tokyo Joe's/Van Dessel).
Southern
California's TeamCICLE.org presents Dorothy Wong,
Heidi Kanayan, Christie Pleiss and Carolyn Popovic.
Popovic has had several wins on both the East
and West Coasts this season, and should post a
strong top 15 finish at Nationals.
The
weather
for Nationals is slated ofr the low 30s for
highs, but no adverse weather or snow is expected.
The
Women's Elite Cyclocross USA National Championship
race will be held on Sunday, December 16th at
12 noon at Wyandotte County Park in Kansas City,
Missouri. Check back here for results and recaps
of the race.
Kansas
City Nats Web Site
VeloBella
TeamCICLE.org
CICLE.org
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