Compton and van der Haar win cyclocross World Cup in Zolder

Katie Compton (Trek Cyclocross Collective) and Lars van der Haar (Rabobank Development Team) won the fifth round of the cyclocross World Cup series on Thursday in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium.

Compton had a slow start but was able to gain time on her competitors halfway through the elite women’s race. She beat Marianne Vos (Rabobank Liv-Giant), the current world champion, by 20 seconds and Sanne Cant (Enertherm-BKCP) by 57 seconds. The American increased her lead in the World Cup series overall standings to 290 points.

Van der Haar won the elite men’s race by a mere one second in a sprint to the line against Martin Bina (Kwadro-Stannah Cycling) and Zdeněk Štybar (Omega Pharma-QuickStep). Also in the mix were Philipp Walsleben (BKCP-Powerplus), Rob Peeters (Telenet-Fidea Cycling), Sven Nys (Crelan KDL Cycling), Klaas Vantornout and Kevin Pauwels (Sunweb-Napoleon Games). The Dutch champion also increased his lead in the World Cup standings to 337 points.

Canada’s Aaron Schooler (Team H&R Block) had a strong performance finishing 43rd on the day, 5:47 minutes behind the race winner.

Round 6 will held on Jan. 5 in Rome, Italy followed by Round 7 on Jan. 26 in Nommay, France. The cyclocross world championships will be held on Feb. 1 and 2 in Hoogerheide, Netherlands, ending the 2013-14 season.