Lucinda Brand wins women's Zilvermeercross

Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) won the Lampiris Zilvermeercross on Saturday. The current World Cup leader crossed the line with a solo victory ahead of her Dutch compatriots Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal), by four seconds, and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) by 29 seconds.

"It was a really tough race, there was little time to recover," Brand said in a post-race interview. "We were very evenly matched, the last stretch through the sand was decisive. Every victory is fun and I always want to win, but this is of course nice with a view to the World Cup. You can take that positive feeling with you."

Zilvermeercross is one of the last races on the calendar ahead of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships scheduled in Ostend, Belgium, on January 30-31, although there is still the final World Cup in Overijse on January 24. Reigning World Champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and former world champion Sanne Cant opted not to race Zilvermeercross.

Betsema set a quick pace right off the starting line with a strong rival in Manon Bakker (Credishop-Fristads), but as the race shook out riders Yara Kastelijn (Credishop-Fristads), Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma) moved forward.

In the end, it was a battle between Brand and Betsema with Brand taking a narrow victory by just four seconds over her compatriot. "Only one can win and Brand was slightly stronger in the last lap," Betsema said. "I didn't feel great either, I just missed a little power in my legs after a tough training week. We are very close to each other. I am happy with this second place."

Vos was also pleased with her third place at Zilvermeercross, which marked her first podium of the season. 

"I'm happy with my first podium of the season. The first one for the team as well. I was feeling really good. Unfortunately, I made a big mistake in the sand on the penultimate lap after which I lost a bit of time. All of my shape is improving and it is a nice confidence boost towards the World Championships in Ooostende."

Bakker finished the race in fourth at 45 seconds behind Brand, Kastelijn finished fifth at 53 seconds and Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Fenix) was sixth at 1:05.