Kansas City, Missouri - Defending Elite Men’s champion Tim Johnson (Middleton, Mass.) and Women’s Elite champion Katie Compton (Colorado Springs, Colo.) are among the nation’s best athletes ready to line up at this week’s USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Championships in Kansas City, Kan. Nearly 1,800 entries have been received for the 38 races between Thursday and Sunday at Kansas City’s Tiffany Springs Park. The complete event schedule and more information are available here at http://www.kccrossnationals.com.
Compton, of Colorado Springs, Colo., has won the past four women’s elite titles and was the silver medalist at the 2007 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships. Fresh off three top-five World Cup finishes, the 29-year-old is currently the number seven-ranked female cyclo-cross racer in the world, according to the latest UCI ratings. Her strongest competition in the 90-rider elite women’s field is expected to come from current USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar standings leader and 2008 Olympian in the discipline of mountain biking Georgia Gould (Fort Collins, Colo./Luna). Another multi-discipline rider, road racing veteran, Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./c3 Sollay) will be looking to challenge a new discipline after much success on the domestic cyclo-cross scene this season and a top-20 World Cup finish. Last year’s runner-up Rachel Lloyd (Fairfax, Calif./California Giant Berry Farms-Specialized) will be looking to repeat her impressive performance, as will the currently fourth-ranked rider in the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross National Calendar standings Maureen Bruno-Roy (Arlington, Mass./MM Racing-Seven Cycles).
