NOS Cycling•
Lucinda Brand once again showed her class at the Cyclo-Cross World Cup in Antwerp. She defeated Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and recorded her eleventh victory of the season.
For Brand it is her 54th podium finish in a row. The last time the 36-year-old from Dordrecht finished fourth was in the Benidorm World Cup in January 2024. This season she has ridden thirteen crosses so far, of which she won eleven, the other two times she came second.
In Antwerp she has never been on the highest step of the podium.
Strong leading group
After three of the six laps, a strong leading group of three riders emerged. Puck Pieterse, Brand and Alvarado took the lead in the Antwerp World Cup Cross.
This took a lot of effort, especially for Pieterse. She started her cyclo-cross season last week and is not yet high enough in the rankings to start at the front.
That catch-up race had cost Pieterse so much energy that she could no longer follow her fellow escapees a lap later. Going into the penultimate lap, Brand and Alvarado’s lead was more than ten seconds, but the pursuers still managed to catch up with the two.
Brand and Alvarado were ultimately much stronger than the rest and rode away again. Brand then tried to release Alvarado several times, but was unsuccessful. However, it did not come to a real sprint, because Alvarado was just a little too far behind the winner.
Pieterse ultimately fell just outside the podium and crossed the finish line in fourth. Aniek van Alphen took bronze.
