Dutch champion Lucinda Brand (Team Sunweb) won a muddy edition of the sixth round of the Telenet UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Namur (Belguim) on a relatively warm but rainy Sunday afternoon.
Brand won solo ahead of compatriots Marianne Vos (Waowdeals Pro Cycling Team) and Annemarie Worst (Steylaerts-777), making it a Dutch clean-sweep on the podium. Brand took her second World Cup win of the season and this time she won by a huge margin over her rivals, something she hadn’t expected ahead of the race.
“Certainly not, especially with such a strong starting field in the World Cup,” Brand said. “It’s a confirmation that indeed I can win on the highest level. It’s super nice to get my name on the list of winners at a race like this one.”
Vos extended her lead in the World Cup standings, totalling 41 points more than world champion Sanne Cant - who never felt comfortable in Namur and finished on a distant 13th place at the citadel. Worst moved ahead of Kaitlin Keough (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) into third place overall. Last year’s surprise winner, Evie Richards (Trek Factory Racing) is out with a knee injury and didn’t race in Namur.
No fewer than 82 riders from 17 nations lined up at the start near the foot of the citadel in Namur on Sunday. Ellen Noble (Trek Factory Racing CX) and Italian champion Eva Lechner (Creafin Tüv Sud) enjoyed the best start in the peloton. However, the duo was unable to keep up when the Dutch stars, Vos, Worst and rising star Denise Betsema (Marlux-Bingoal), moved forward. A little later, Brand and Nikki Brammeier (Mudiiita) joined the front of the race.
Towards the end of the second lap, Brand charged forward on the climbs. At first, her rivals were narrowly able to keep up but Brand dug deep and was gone for good by the time they crossed the finish line. On the famous off-camber descent, Brand was able to extend her lead. Brammeier led the chase but didn’t have a great the third lap. Over the remaining circuits, Brand rode flawlessly through the muddy course, extending her lead to half a minute over the chase group.
The battle for the remaining podium spots was a tough one, with Vos, Worst, Betsema, Lechner, Brammeier, and a surprisingly strong Jolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing CX), all fighting it out. Vos took the initiative with Worst fighting hard to keep her in sight. The positions remained the same until the finish line, with both riders being happy with that result. Neff was able to pass Betsema and Lechner in the closing laps but was beaten in the sprint by Brammeier.
European mountain bike champion and 2018 overall mountain bike World Cup winner Neff made her comeback in the cyclo-cross scene after crashing out last season with a horrible fall at the World Cup round in Hoogerheide in January. Neff moved up from a distant start position during the opening laps and featured in the top-10 halfway the race.
“I came back from a training camp in New Zealand only three days ago. So, finishing fifth here is great. I was able to profit from my mountain biking background. I struggled on the climbs but moved up on the technical sections,” Neff said.
Half a minute later, Lechner captured sixth place ahead of Betsema. Kaitlin Keough was eighth at 1:15. Young Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado (Corendon-Circus) finish ninth in Namur and was the first rider in the Women Under 23 category. Alvarado closes in on Fleur Nagengast (Telenet Fidea Lions) who remains the leader in the World Cup standings in the U23 category.
The next World Cup round is held in three days, with racing action heading to the car racing track in Heusden-Zolder on Boxing Day.
Full Results
| # | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lucinda Brand (Ned) | 0:45:40 |
| 2 | Marianne Vos (Ned) | 0:00:27 |
| 3 | Annemarie Worst (Ned) | 0:00:32 |
| 4 | Nikki Brammeier (GBr) | 0:00:35 |
| 5 | Jolanda Neff (Swi) | 0:00:36 |
| 6 | Eva Lechner (Ita) | 0:00:54 |
| 7 | Denise Betsema (Ned) | 0:00:58 |
| 8 | Kaitlin Keough (USA) | 0:01:15 |
| 9 | Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Ned) | 0:01:28 |
| 10 | Loes Sels (Bel) | 0:01:31 |
| 11 | Alice Maria Arzuffi (Ita) | 0:01:38 |
| 12 | Aida Nuño Palacio (Spa) | 0:01:44 |
| 13 | Sanne Cant (Bel) | 0:01:53 |
| 14 | Sophie De Boer (Ned) | 0:02:08 |
| 15 | Maud Kaptheijns (Ned) | 0:02:13 |
| 16 | Fleur Nagengast (Ned) | 0:02:18 |
| 17 | Ellen Noble (USA) | 0:02:26 |
| 18 | Lucia Gonzalez Blanco (Spa) | 0:02:30 |
| 19 | Marion Norbert Riberolle (Fra) | 0:02:47 |
| 20 | Maghalie Rochette (Can) | 0:02:56 |
| 21 | Elisabeth Brandau (Ger) | 0:03:02 |
| 22 | Nicole Koller (Swi) | 0:03:03 |
| 23 | Marlène Petit (Fra) | 0:03:12 |
| 24 | Christine Majerus (Lux) | 0:03:23 |
| 25 | Anna Kay (GBr) | 0:03:24 |
| 26 | Harriet Harnden (GBr) | 0:03:34 |
| 27 | Inge Van Der Heijden (Ned) | 0:03:40 |
| 28 | Jana Czeczinkarová (Cze) | 0:03:41 |
| 29 | Bethany Crumpton (GBr) | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
| 30 | Manon Bakker (Ned) | 0:03:43 |
| 31 | Katherine Compton (USA) | 0:03:49 |
| 32 | Puck Pieterse (Ned) | 0:04:00 |
| 33 | Jennifer Jackson (Can) | 0:04:15 |
| 34 | Joyce Vanderbeken (Bel) | 0:04:43 |
| 35 | Ffion James (GBr) | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
| 36 | Mari-Liis Mõttus (Est) | 0:04:44 |
| 37 | Shirin Van Anrooij (Ned) | 0:04:53 |
| 38 | Noemi Rüegg (Swi) | 0:04:55 |
| 39 | Perrine Clauzel (Fra) | 0:05:12 |
| 40 | Nadja Heigl (Aut) | 0:05:21 |
| 41 | Ruby West (Can) | 0:05:24 |
| 42 | Francesca Baroni (Ita) | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
| 43 | Pavla Havlíková (Cze) | 0:05:28 |
| 44 | Anais Grimault (Fra) | 0:05:37 |
| 45 | Magdeleine Vallieres Mill (Can) | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
| 46 | Léa Curinier (Fra) | 0:05:42 |
| 47 | Elle Anderson (USA) | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
| 48 | Ida Jansson (Swe) | 0:05:46 |
| 49 | Lara Krähemann (Swi) | 0:05:48 |
| 50 | Zina Barhoumi (Swi) | 0:05:52 |
| 51 | Pasquine Vandermouten (Fra) | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
| 52 | Suzanne Verhoeven (Bel) | 0:06:02 |
| 53 | Emily Wadsworth (GBr) | 0:06:25 |
| 54 | Caroline Mani (Fra) | 0:06:34 |
| 55 | Stefanie Paul (Ger) | 0:07:02 |
| 56 | Luisa Ibarrola Albizua (Spa) | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
| 57 | Maddie Wadsworth (GBr) | 0:07:25 |
| 58 | Marceline Devaux (Fra) | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
| 59 | Lauriane Duraffourg (Fra) | 0:07:38 |
| 60 | Axelle Bellaert (Bel) | 0:07:58 |
| 61 | Nikola Bajgerová (Cze) | 0:08:05 |
| 62 | Viktoria Smidth Knudsen (Den) | 0:08:11 |
| 63 | Ida Erngren (Swe) | 0:08:30 |
| 64 | Anna Flynn (GBr) | 0:08:49 |
| 65 | Sandra Trevilla Samperio (Spa) | 0:08:53 |
| 66 | Dana Gilligan (Can) | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
| 67 | Kätlin Kukk (Est) | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
| 68 | Corey Coogan Cisek (USA) | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
| 69 | Mélissa Rouiller (Swi) | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
| 70 | Lucie Cottier (Swi) | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
| 71 | Tessa Zwaenepoel (Bel) | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
| 72 | Irene Trabazo Bragado (Spa) | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
| 73 | Jennifer Malik (USA) | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
| 74 | Emily Werner (USA) | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
| 75 | Tess Van Loy (Bel) | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
| 76 | Sidney Mcgill (Can) | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
| 77 | Maria Parajon Fuentes (Spa) | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
| 78 | Diana Steffenhagen (Ger) | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Rebecca Fahringer (USA) | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Marlène Morel Petitgirard (Fra) | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Helen Wyman (GBr) | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
| DNF | Kata Blanka Vas (Hun) | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Paula Diaz Lopez (Spa) | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
| DNS | Mara Schwager (Ger) | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
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