Lucinda Brand extends her winning streak in Gavere

Once again, Lucinda Brand continues to be the absolute dominator of the cyclocross season in the women's category. In the race in Gavere, she also had more advantages than usual by taking advantage of her rivals' mistakes, which allowed her to achieve a comfortable victory that further solidifies her lead in the Cyclocross World Cup.

The mistakes of her rivals and her strength allow Lucinda Brand to strengthen her lead in the Cyclocross World Cup

Another day at the office for Lucinda Brand in the Cyclocross World Cup event held in Gavere. A circuit traditionally marked by mud, but in this edition, it was unusually dry after several weeks without rain in the fields of Flanders, turning the Gavere race into a fast course.

The race started with Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado looking to surprise and take advantage of a calm start from Lucinda Brand, who was not among the leading positions. Amandine Fouquenet also tried in the early stages of the race to open up a gap, but their joy would not last long as Lucinda Brand, with a perfect reading and control of the race situation, quickly began to climb and positioned herself at the front, right behind the Frenchwoman.

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At the start of the second lap, Shirin van Anrooij and Puck Pieterse tried to change the race situation, and again, Lucinda Brand managed to close the gap almost effortlessly. Van Anrooij fell out of contention after a small crash and had to change bikes, leaving a leading group formed by Puck Pieterse, Amandine Fouquenet, Celia Gery, and Lucinda Brand herself.

Then, in the third lap, it was Puck Pieterse who fell, also quite foolishly, at which point Lucinda took the opportunity to increase the pace, causing the two Frenchwomen to fall like ripe fruit and quickly gaining a gap of about 15 seconds that would prove decisive. There, midway through the race, the competition would effectively end.

From there to the finish, Lucinda Brand, without making mistakes and maintaining a consistent pace, would extend her lead while, behind her, we saw an interesting battle for the podium between Fouquenet and Pieterse as Gery fell back due to the chasing pace set by the Dutchwoman. However, it would be the French champion, Amandine Fouquenet, who would take the win, managing to shake off Puck Pieterse with a lap and a half still to cover, although Pieterse would try to hold on until the end, unable to close the mere ten meters that the Frenchwoman managed to gain.

Cyclocross World Cup Standings – Gavere

1. Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) 48'26''
2. Amandine Fouquenet (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +15''
3. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) +19''
4. Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) +38''
5. Aniek Van Alphen (Seven Racing) +49''
6. Celia Gery (As Bike Racing / France Literie) +54''
7. Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Glowi Lions) +1'12''
8. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) +1'43''
9. Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) +1'57''
10. Viktoria Chladonova (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'57''