Kaitlin Antonneau’s second-place finish Sunday at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Valkenburg – her first-ever podium finish at that level – surprised a few people, maybe even herself.
Antonneau benefited from a front-row start – another World Cup first for the 23-year-old rider from Wisconsin – and stuck with the lead-10 riders on the course after a tricky, technical start and a quick recovery from an early bobble.
Finding herself in a chase group behind leader and eventual winner Eva Lechner, Nikki Harris and Pavla Havlikova, the Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com rider distanced herself late in the race from Sanne Cant, Sanne Van Paassen and Amanda Miller to ride into the fourth position with just a couple of laps remaining.
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“I rode with them for about three laps, and then going into two-to-go, I guess, I was just going faster and riding better technically, so I took off and was riding my own race. I wasn’t really thinking about what place I was in or anything,” Antonneau recalled to Cyclingnews on Monday from the USA Cycling European base in Limburg, Netherlands.
With a few more efforts and quick lines, she found herself gaining on the rider in front of her.
“Eventually I got up to Pavla [Havlikova] and then rode away from her,” Antonneau said. “Going into the last lap I could see Nikki [Harris]. I thought, ‘OK, this is good.’ I passed her and then she passed me back in that technical off-camber section.
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