Superprestige Niel: Lucinda Brand conquers the sand to take fifth victory of the season

Baloise Glowi Lions' Lucinda Brand soloed to victory at the Superprestige Niel, her fourth victory on the Jaarmarktcross course after leading for most of the eight laps.

Newly-crowned European champion Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) finished second in Niel, after initially sticking close with Brand but eventually losing sight of her.

Aniek van Alphen (Seven Racing) completed the podium in third, after riding arguably the strongest ride across the loose, sandy sections that define the Niel course, but errors in other areas cost her a better result.

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With second place, Van der Heijden moves into the lead of the Superprestige series overall after three rounds.

The third round of the Superprestige started without the series' two best-placed riders overall, Sara Casasola and Marion Norbert Riberolle (both Crelan-Corendon), who were both injured after crashes.

Brand and Van der Heijden emerged in the lead early on, taking on the sand sections with ease, whilst others faltered. Brand powered on in front, whilst Van der Heijden took a slight back seat, but never let Brand get that far in front.

By the end of the third lap, Brand led Van der Heijden by six seconds, with Aniek van Alphen 21 seconds back. Every time they hit the sand section, Brand was dealing with it well and gradually increasing her advantage.

Starting the final two laps, Brand's gap was ticking over 20 seconds as Van der Heijden and Van Alphen's best efforts – and fairly technically strong rides – weren't making any inroads on the leader.

Brand was so assured on the final lap that she had time to high-five fans watching, and she sailed to the victory, her fifth of the season, having not finished lower than second in the first seven races of the 2025-2026 campaign.

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