NOS Cycling••Amended
Mathieu van der Poel and Lucinda Brand have once again shown their class in cyclo-cross. A day after they both won the World Cup in Antwerp, they also won the World Cup in Koksijde.
Both Van der Poel and Brand were able to ride to victory unthreatened. Since his return to the field, Van der Poel has won all three World Cup races in which he participated. For Brand it was already her twelfth victory in fourteen crosses this season.
Van der Poel also rides unthreatened to cyclo-cross World Cup victory in Koksijde
It quickly became clear on the sandy course in Koksijde that Van der Poel was in good shape. In the second round the world champion opened a large gap with the rest. Yet the pursuers were able to parry Van der Poel’s first attack.
Van der Poel then spared himself for a while and left the leading work to his teammates Niels Vandeputte and Tibor Del Grosso. After sitting in the wheel for a lap, he decided to run off again.
This time no one had an answer and Van der Poel quickly expanded his lead. He was able to take it very easy in the last lap, meaning that number two Laurens Sweeck only had to concede seven seconds on the line. Vandeputte finished third, thirteen seconds behind Van der Poel.
Wout van Aert, who made his first cyclo-cross appearance this season on Saturday, was missing in Koksijde.
Number twelve for Brand
Brand had some difficulty on Saturday to shake off number two Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, but in Koksijde she quickly got rid of her competitors on Sunday.
Brand again untouchable at the Cyclo-Cross World Cup: also victorious in Koksijde
She was soon in a leading group of three, including Shirin van Anrooij and Aniek van Alphen, and immediately took the initiative in the race. Brand rode steadily and released her fellow leaders. Halfway through she had an eight-second gap on teammate Van Anrooij.
And her lead only increased in the final laps. The leader in the World Cup classification rode to victory unthreatened.
The battle for third place was more exciting than the battle for victory. Alvarado still had to sprint to keep Van Alphen from taking the bronze. Puck Pieterse finished in fifth place.
