And the women are still ripping as well...

This is not a photo of Katie at Tabor...it's actually from day one of Providence back in the good 'ol US of A. I just thought it was a nice pic - Photo credit: Meg McMahon

The American Ladies are holding up their end of the bargain. Katie Compton rode a flawless race in Tabor, Czech Republic and with the exception of some last lap mechanical hiccups she was in control for much (most) of the day. She finished a mere 6 seconds ahead of the Young-Telenet duo of Britain's Nikki Harris and home country rider Pavla Havlikova, but to be honest it never felt that close. 

Up next in 6th place for the stars and bars was the elder stateswomen of the team, Meredith Miller. Miller recently retired from road racing but is competing in at least one more cyclocross season and if today's result is any indication, is showing no reason to stop anytime soon. At the other end of the age spectrum, 21 year old Kaitlin Antonneau rolled over the line as the 3rd American in the top ten at ninth place. 

I would be remiss to not also mention the super multi-tasker from PA, Arley Kemmerer. At 28 years old she keeps herself busy as a practicing attorney and personal trainer during the day and then races cyclocross as a hobby for fun. It's a hobby that sees her regularly placing high in the top domestic races (e.g.: 10th place in the 2013 U.S. Nationals) as well as pulling in top 15 places in world cup races as she did yesterday. I think I need to re-evaluate my time usage. 

Hopefully the U.S. men can find their stride and start to compete internationally as well as the women are. 

Of course, the big Dutch elephant in the room is the fact that Le Cannibelle Marianne Vos chose not to contest the Tabor leg of the CXWC. Her domination on last weeks race shows that she is far and away the cream of the crop in the UCI women's world cup, but it does not take away from the great job that all of the riders did yesterday, American or not.

Take a look at the last lap video here: