Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) claimed her second elite cyclocross world title on the Hulst ramparts, winning solo after Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado faded in the penultimate lap allowing the 36-year-old to pull clear.
The Netherlands swept the podium for the fourth consecutive year, with Alvarado (Netherlands) taking silver at 27 seconds and Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) taking bronze at 51 seconds after a mid-race crash.
The victory ends a five-year wait for Brand to return to the top step, her first rainbow jersey coming at Ostend in 2021. It comes at the end of a season in which she secured the overall World Cup title despite losing her 13-race winning streak at Zonhoven in January.
Elite Women Results
Hulst • Jan 31 • 19.4km
| Pos | Rider | NATNationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Lucinda BRAND | NED | 0:49:16 |
| 🥈 | Ceylin del Carmen ALVARADO | NED | +0:27 |
| 🥉 | Puck PIETERSE | NED | +0:51 |
| 4 | Kata Blanka VAS | HUN | +0:56 |
| 5 | Amandine FOUQUENET | FRA | +0:58 |
| 6 | Jolanda NEFF | SUI | +1:02 |
| 7 | Zoe BACKSTEDT | GBR | +1:05 |
| 8 | Manon BAKKER | NED | +1:11 |
| 9 | Shirin VAN ANROOIJ | NED | +1:20 |
| 10 | Marie SCHREIBER | LUX | +1:37 |
| 11 | Kristýna ZEMANOVÁ | CZE | +2:05 |
| 12 | Hélène CLAUZEL | FRA | +2:12 |
| 13 | Inge VAN DER HEIJDEN | NED | +2:17 |
| 14 | Aniek VAN ALPHEN | NED | +2:19 |
| 15 | Annemarie WORST | NED | +2:21 |
| 16 | Sidney MCGILL | CAN | +4:00 |
| 17 | Sofia RODRIGUEZ REVERT | ESP | +4:14 |
| 18 | Lucia GONZALEZ BLANCO | ESP | +4:19 |
| 19 | Larissa HARTOG | NED | +4:46 |
| 20 | Elizabeth GUNSALUS | USA | +4:53 |
| 21 | Rebekka ESTERMANN | SUI | +4:59 |
| 22 | Perrine CLAUZEL | FRA | +5:19 |
| 23 | Zuzanna KRZYSTALA | POL | +5:32 |
| 24 | Nadja HEIGL | AUT | +6:34 |
| 25 | Anna MEGALE | USA | +6:35 |
| 26 | Maghalie ROCHETTE | CAN | +7:50 |
| 27 | Ann-Dorthe LISBYGD | DEN | - |
| 28 | Kasuga WATABE | JPN | - |
Dutch lead and mid-race crash
The three Dutch leaders established a 10-second gap over Blanka Kata Vas (Hungary) and the chasing group by the end of lap one. Pre-race wildcard Amandine Fouquenet (France) missed her pedal at the start and dropped back into the bunch and lost time before the first bridge.
Pieterse, entering as the form rider after winning recent World Cup rounds, pushed the pace on the slick off-camber grass descents. Around 20 minutes in, she lost traction and crashed, surrendering contact with Brand and Alvarado.
Brand attacked immediately on the ramparts. Alvarado fought back to her wheel, but the 40m of elevation per lap contributed to a growing gap. Despite Brand crashing by herself mid-race, she continued to hammer a relentless pace and caught Alvarado quickly.
Once together again, Alvarado showed some fatigue with a few handling mistakes on the penultimate lap, but largely Brand was simply the stronger of the two. Brand created a gap and extended it to 18 seconds through the final bridges and stairs.
Rounding out the top of the race
Belgian champion Marion Norbert Riberolle was removed from the race by UCI commissaires for unsportsmanlike conduct after a collision with Kristyna Zemanova (Czech Republic) near the pontoons.
Vas finished fourth at 1:05, with Zemanova fifth. Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) delivered Britain's best result in sixth.
Brand had previously struggled on this course but this time paced her effort to finish ahead of Pieterse and Alvarado. Despite Fem van Empel having retired, Dutch riders again filled all three podium places.
Cover image credit: Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com
