Lucinda Brand's victory in Loenhout maintains her full house in the X2O Trophy

Today, Lucinda Brand had to suffer in the Loenhout race due to a circuit that is traditionally a true mud pit, but the lack of rain in Belgium over the past few weeks left it extremely fast and not very selective. Thus, the Baloise Glowi Lions rider gains a few more seconds in the overall standings that could allow her to mathematically secure the X2O Trophy on the upcoming day 1 in Baal.

The lack of mud turns the Loenhout race into one of the most contested

A simple race was expected for Lucinda Brand due to the absences of the French riders Amandine Fouquenet and Celia Gery, as well as Puck Pieterse and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. However, Brand did not anticipate how non-selective the Loenhout circuit would turn out to be in a Christmas season where the characteristic mud of cyclocross is glaringly absent.

Anticipating that it would be a group race, Lucinda Brand started quite calmly, remaining vigilant around fifth or sixth place while allowing riders like Kristyna Zemanova, Marion Norbert Riberolle, Manon Bakker, and Zoe Backstedt, who was only in her second race after a discreet debut yesterday, to take the lead. Backstedt had to delay the start of her campaign due to a wrist fracture, but she was already showing up in the front positions.

RECOMENDADO

7 reasons why a trainer is the best cycling investment

Thibau Nys wins an incredibly exciting World Cup cyclocross race in Dendermonde

Lucinda Brand continues to dominate the Cyclocross World Cup in Dendermonde

Sweeck, Nys, Vanthourenhout, and Vandeputte are competing for the leadership of the World Cup in Dendermonde

Why does Pogacar always wear lace-up shoes?

Catalina Vidaurre joins the BH Coloma Team to boost her 2026 project

As the third lap began, Lucinda Brand finally took the lead and made an initial attempt to break away, but a strong Kristyna Zemanova ended up reeling her back in. From here until the last lap, they would alternate in leading the race, but it seemed impossible to select the group, pointing towards a sprint finish.

However, as they reached the last lap, Lucinda Brand returned to the front and, with a minute of true wattage display, managed to open up just a couple of seconds over the Czech rider. Zemanova would not give up, but Brand knew how to leverage those few meters of advantage to, in a perfect lap, threading every line to the millimeter, reach the finish straight and win comfortably without having to rely on the always unpredictable sprint finish.

The overall standings of the X2O Trophy are almost settled with a 9-minute and 14-second lead between Lucinda Brand and second-place Manon Bakker. Considering that there are three races left and the maximum penalty is 5 minutes, a good day in Baal could mathematically secure the X2O in the event that kicks off the new year.

X2O Trophy Classification – Loenhout-Azencross

1. Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) 48'34''
2. Kristyna Zemanova (Brilon Racing Team MB) +05''
3. Manon Bakker (Crelan-Corendon) +12''
4. Zoe Backstedt (Canyon//SRAM Racing) +22''
5. Marion Norbert Riberolle (Crelan-Corendon) +35''
6. Annemarie Worst (Seven Racing) +36''
7. Larissa Hartog (Oranges Babies) +37''
8. Julie Brouwers (Charles Liegeois Roastery CX) +37''
9. Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) +1'20''
10. Reb ecca Gariboldi (Ale-Colnago) +1'21''