Rapencross: Lucinda Brand solos to victory and takes series lead

Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) soloed to her third victory of the 2024-25 cyclocross season in the second round of the X2O Trofee, the Rapencross.

After suffering a mechanical at the end of the first lap, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) chased back to take second, 21 seconds behind the Dutch Champion. Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) rounded out the podium in third place at 34 seconds.

“I wanted to balance between riding as fast as possible to the finish, but not going to the limit because we are also riding in Niel tomorrow,” Brand told broadcasters according to WielerFlits. “But I did want to gain seconds. That’s why I lost a bit of concentration and started making stupid mistakes. That’s something I have to be critical of.”

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"I had to try to make it hard. It was difficult to follow here, because you have a 'dead spot' in the wheel. That's why it's better to be at the front", Brand added. "I saw that Ceylin had problems with her chain, so I knew that. After that she rode a strong race, although I didn't know if she was still holding back with a view to tomorrow. But I think she rode a strong race.”

Casasola took control of the front of the race after getting the holeshot while Brand had a bit of a slower start, positioning herself a bit further back. By the end of the first lap, Alvarado had lost time after dropping her chain at the barriers and going in for a bike change while four riders separated themselves at the front.

Brand set the pace of the lead group which included Laura Verdonschot (De Ceuster-Bonache), Casasola and Annemarie Worst (Fenix-Deceuninck). Behind under-23 cyclocross world champion Zoe Backstedt (Canyon-Sram), in her first cyclo-cross race of the season, was chasing solo.

After Worst put in a move on an off-camber section, Brand put the hammer down to push the pace and got away on the steep slope of Mont Henri at the centre of the 2.6km course.

With two laps to go, Brand had six seconds on Casasola, and 15 seconds of Worst followed by Alvarado, having chased back to fourth place, after losing around 20 seconds on the first lap.

Brand did bobble on the bell lap, having to run while straddling her bike, but her lead was never in jeopardy. Alvarado dispatched Casasola on the climb to take second place.

Verdonschot finished fourth and Worst was fifth.

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