Lucinda Brand wins the GP Sven Nys

World champion Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) won the GP Sven Nys, her third win in the X2O Trofee series, getting the better of Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix) after a close battle at the front of the race.

The top two were separated by four seconds after 44 minutes of racing, while series leader Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) finished in third place, 37 seconds down.

Brand's victory is her fifth in a row and her 14th of the current cyclo-cross season, including five rounds of the UCI World Cup as well as the European Championships.

After finishing, having raced with 'Amy' painted on her helmet, she dedicated her win to compatriot Amy Pieters, who remains in hsopital with a head injury following a training crash last week.

"I had to keep pressure on Ceylin but she kept coming back," she said. "It's a very difficult time. It's nice to win but other things are more important. I had to keep going to win – it was so hard.

"I am constantly thinking of [Amy] and her family. I hope they can take some strength from this."

The 32-year-old had gotten the better of Alvarado in a close battle on the last lap of the race, only managing to eke out a gap at the very end to claim victory. The pair had been away from the rest of the field from the early laps after leaving Betsema behind when the trio had pulled out a gap on lap one.

Alvarado lost ground to Brand on a descent during lap four, but made her way back to the front on the final lap. However, Brand was able to pull away once again as the lead duo reached a group of lapped riders, and Alvarado couldn't make it across despite a dogged fightback.