Brand claims fourth straight Superprestige win in Gavere

Lucinda Brand (Telenet Baloise Lions) claimed her fourth straight victory in the Superprestige series, powering away from Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix) in the mud of Gavere on Sunday. 

Betsema, victorious at Scheldecross on Saturday, took the initiative from the gun, but Brand made her way across early on the second of five laps. 

The mud forced riders into the pits on every lap and a slow change left Alvarado trailing, and the world champion would spend the rest of the race chasing but getting no closer to the front.

Brand recovered from a slip-out on lap 3 to get back to Betsema and then power away from her, grimacing as she prized the gap open through the thick mud. 

She led by four seconds by the end of that lap and extended it to 12 seconds by the time she took the bell. The power didn’t seem to dry up on the final lap and she came to the finish to raise her arms 13 seconds clear of Betsema, with Alvarado settling for third at 34 seconds. 

US champion Clara Honsinger produced a fine ride to break away from a larger chase group on lap 3. She was just unable to claw back Alvarado for a podium but nevertheless secured a clear fourth place at 44 seconds. 

Meanwhile Annemarie Worst (777) had a disappointing afternoon, finishing down in 13th. The Dutch rider slipped out early in the race so started on the back foot but was unable to mount any real chase to the riders she’d have expected to be battling with. 

In the overall standings, Brand is now the outright Superprestige leader, having been tied with Alvarado at the start of the day. With 86 points, she leads the world champion by two points with two rounds remaining. 

Betsema moved up to third on 74 points, as Worst was also overtaken by Kastelijn, who's now fourth on 68.