Superprestige Overijse: Sara Casasola takes glory ahead of Lucinda Brand

Sara Casasola (Crelan Corendon) rode an assured race to power to an impressive victory in round 2 of the Superprestige-Overijse on Sunday.

The Italian rider was clearly one of the two strongest riders on the day, battling with Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) from the second lap onwards, but when Brand came down on the penultimate lap, Casasola was able to take advantage riding solo to victory and move into the lead in the series. Brand finished second, 28 seconds behind, and Aniek van Alphen (Seven Racing) completed the podium in third.

With cobbles and climbs, the course in Overijse in the south of the Flemish region of Belgium is one of the oldest ‘crosses on the calendar, and conditions were dry for the women's race, though the challenging parcours had slick and slippery sections along its length that would test the riders.

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Fem van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike) withdrew from the race prior to the start following her 50^th career victory yesterday at the Exact Cross in Heerderstrand, while it was the first race of the season for Blanka Vas (Team SD Worx-ProTime). T

he Hungarian wasted no time in exerting her authority on the race, striking out early along with French national champion Amandine Foquenet (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Brand, as other riders faltered in a slick muddy section on lap 1.

Brand maintained her presence at the front of the race but it was all change in the leading group as Casasola put pressure on the rest of the field, causing Vas to drop back. Brand and Casasola traded blows at the front of the race heading into lap 3, with Van Alphen the only other rider capable of sticking with them.

Prior to the race, Marion Norbert Riberolle (Crelan Corendon) led the overall standings in the series following round 1 in Ruddervoorde but struggled throughout the race with mechanical issues, falling away from the pace and fighting to push her way back up the standings after that.

Meanwhile, Casasola and Brand dropped Van Alphen to set up an explosive head-to-head battle with two laps remaining. The two remained locked together heading towards the final lap with nothing to separate them, but just before the start/finish straight Brand came down hard after catching her arm on a wooden post, allowing Casasola the space to open up a gap at the head of the race.

Brand dug deep on the final lap, grimacing as she fought to reduce her deficit, but Casasola was faultless, powering to her first C1 level victory of the season following a second place in Ruddervoorde, and taking the lead in the overall standings in the process.

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