Lucinda Brand wins Superprestige Boom

Lucinda Brand (Telenet Baloise Lions) won the Superprestige in Boom after dropping world champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix) on the penultimate lap to win by 10 seconds. Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) took third at 45 seconds.

Alvarado had been the early front-runner, opening a small gap on the first lap, but Brand remained in sight in the company of their fellow Dutchwoman Betsema. Brand later distanced Betsema, and by the midpoint of the race, she trailed Alvarado by just six seconds, with the rest of the field over 20 seconds down.

While Alvarado appeared the quickest on the technical sections of the course, Brand was able to take advantage of the short, steep climbs to make up her deficit on Alvarado on the fourth lap, though her initial attempts to shake off the world champion proved fruitless.

Both of the leaders changed bikes ahead of the penultimate lap, and as they made their way through the pits, Alvarado was hindered by Brand’s discarded bike and forced to put her foot down. Brand sportingly waited for the world champion to re-join her, but she distanced Alvarado shortly afterwards on the short, steep climb that followed the cobbled section.

“We both made a decision to go into the pit, and I had no clue where her mechanics were in the pit and once I saw they were very close to mine but not close enough to just follow, I made a quick decision and I couldn't get in front of her ... But I had to get my bike, you need to change if you're in the pit,” Brand said. “Unfortunately, it turned out like this. The only thing I could do was wait for her. I didn’t want to cause her to crash and influence her race.”

Brand took the bell with a lead of 6 seconds over Alvarado. Although the Alpecin-Fenix rider produced a ferocious pursuit on the final lap, she was unable to recoup the ground on Brand, who soloed to her third Superprestige victory of the winter.

Annemarie Worst (777) took fourth at 1:06 ahead of Yara Kastelijn (Credishop-Fristads), while American Clara Honsinger came home in 7th ahead of Canada’s Maghalie Rochette.