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Helen Wyman takes strong second at opening round of UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup

Helen Wyman takes strong second at opening round of UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup

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Helen Wyman began her 2014 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup campaign with a defiant second place as the series got underway in Valkenburg, Netherlands.

Wyman - who finished fifth in the world cup last season - started strongly and set the pace on the first lap of five.

On lap two she was joined by Nikki Harris and for a time, it was a British one-two at the head of the race, in a group which also contained Belgium's Sophie De Boer, Sanne Kant and Ellen Van Loy.

The fourth lap would prove decisive, as 2013/14 world cup winner Katie Compton recovered from an early mechanical and joined the leaders.

Immediately applying pressure at the front, only European champion Wyman could follow, but Compton was clearly the strongest rider in the race, recovering from an early 40-second deficit to take the win by 13-seconds from an optimistic Wyman.

Further back, Nikki Harris took a pragmatic view of a race which she once led, before finishing sixth.

Hannah Payton finished 30th, with Ian Field matching her result in the elite men's race, albeit under extenuating circumstances. 

In the men's under-23 race, Ben Sumner finished 22nd, one lap down. 

The 2014 UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup resumes on November 22, on the sand dunes of Koksijde, Belgium.

Results:

Elite men
Elite women
Under-23 men