Lucinda Brand (Trek Baloise Lions) claimed her second UCI Cyclocross World Cup in the space of a week after she soloed to a resounding victory in Flamanville. Marie Schreiber (SD Worx) rode strongly to place second, while Leonie Bentveld (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) rounded out the podium in third.
Schreiber made a trademark fast start, powering to the front on the opening lap, while Brand was a little slower off the mark after struggling to clip into her pedal as the race got underway. Bentveld and her teammate Denise Betsema joined Schreiber at the front midway through the first lap, but Brand was also quickly up to speed and moving her way through the field.
By the end of the first lap, Schreiber was still in front, but Brand and Betsema were just four seconds behind the Luxembourger.
The second lap would prove the turning point of the race as Brand shed Bestema et al and set out in lone pursuit of Schreiber, who to that point had been dismounting less than her pursuers and opening her advantage accordingly.
When Schreiber slid on a particularly muddy section, however, Brand managed to close the gap, immediately hitting the front and upping the pace. Schreiber resisted the first onslaught but she soon realised that Brand was able to travel to places she couldn’t quite reach.
After two laps, Brand had a lead of 13 seconds, and she extended that buffer to 24 seconds by the end of the third. From there, it was a matter of staying upright, and the Dutchwoman made light of a late skid on the final lap to come home 20 seconds clear of Schreiber.
Before the start, Brand suggested that she wasn’t in quite the same form that had carried her to victory in Dublin last Sunday, but it was enough to claim victory in a race where World Cup leader Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, world champion Fem van Empel and Puck Pieterse were among the absentees.
“I didn’t feel like last week, but my legs were still good enough,” Brand said. “I missed my pedal at the start and I made a few mistakes in the first lap, so it was hard to find my position. I had to stay patient and find a good moment to move up, but luckily I had a good position.”
Although Alvarado still leads the overall standings at the World Cup, Brand has cut her lead to 39 points. She will hope to progress further in the series during the hectic period of racing ahead. “It’s good position to be in the overall for the World Cup coming into the Christmas period,” she said.
Behind Brand, Schreiber and Bentveld…
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