Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) won at Dendermonde, powering to victory in round eight of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup ahead of Puck Pieterse (Fenix–Deceuninck) and an in-form Amandine Fouquenet. On a cold, sticky Hamsesteenweg circuit, she won in 0:51:06, 11 s clear.
Elite Women Results
Dendermonde • Dec 28
| Pos | Rider | NATNationality | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🥇 | Lucinda BRAND | NED | 0:51:06 |
| 🥈 | Puck PIETERSE | NED | +0:11 |
| 🥉 | Amandine FOUQUENET | FRA | +0:23 |
| 4 | Ceylin del Carmen ALVARADO | NED | +0:35 |
| 5 | Marion NORBERT RIBEROLLE | BEL | +0:47 |
| 6 | Leonie BENTVELD | NED | +0:58 |
| 7 | Aniek VAN ALPHEN | NED | +1:03 |
| 8 | Kristýna ZEMANOVÁ | CZE | +1:09 |
| 9 | Manon BAKKER | NED | +1:14 |
| 10 | Célia GERY | FRA | +1:28 |
| 11 | Shirin VAN ANROOIJ | NED | +1:46 |
| 12 | Marie SCHREIBER | LUX | +2:18 |
| 13 | Inge VAN DER HEIJDEN | NED | +2:30 |
| 14 | Rafaelle CARRIER | CAN | +2:33 |
| 15 | Jolanda NEFF | SUI | +2:33 |
| 16 | Denise BETSEMA | NED | +2:35 |
| 17 | Annemarie WORST | NED | +2:41 |
| 18 | Rebecca GARIBOLDI | ITA | +2:49 |
| 19 | Alyssa SARKISOV | USA | +2:53 |
| 20 | Elizabeth GUNSALUS | USA | +2:55 |
| 21 | Julie BROUWERS | BEL | +2:56 |
| 22 | Carlotta BORELLO | ITA | +3:11 |
| 23 | Hélène CLAUZEL | FRA | +3:13 |
| 24 | Kateřina HLADÍKOVÁ | CZE | +3:15 |
| 25 | Vida LOPEZ DE SAN ROMAN | USA | +3:18 |
| 26 | Lucia BRAMATI | ITA | +3:41 |
| 27 | Zoe BACKSTEDT | GBR | +3:45 |
| 28 | Bloeme KALIS | NED | +3:45 |
| 29 | Sofia RODRIGUEZ REVERT | ESP | +3:46 |
| 30 | Letizia BORGHESI | ITA | +3:50 |
| 31 | Mae CABACA | NED | +3:50 |
| 32 | Line BURQUIER | FRA | +3:51 |
| 33 | Rebekka ESTERMANN | SUI | +3:56 |
| 34 | Shanyl DE SCHOESITTER | BEL | +4:00 |
| 35 | Sterre VERVLOET | BEL | +4:04 |
| 36 | Kiona CRABBÉ | BEL | +4:09 |
| 37 | Lucia GONZALEZ BLANCO | ESP | +4:14 |
| 38 | Lauriane DURAFFOURG | FRA | +4:15 |
| 39 | Puck LANGENBARG | NED | +4:19 |
| 40 | Elisa FERRI | ITA | +4:20 |
| 41 | Nico KNOLL | CAN | +4:25 |
| 42 | Xan CREES | GBR | +4:34 |
| 43 | Amandine MULLER | FRA | +4:37 |
| 44 | Laura VERDONSCHOT | BEL | +4:41 |
| 45 | Lidia CUSACK | USA | +4:48 |
| 46 | Jinse PEETERS | BEL | +4:52 |
| 47 | Ilken SEYNAVE | BEL | +4:53 |
| 48 | Liv WENZEL | LUX | +4:53 |
| 49 | Mia ASELTINE | USA | +5:00 |
| 50 | Sara CUETO VEGA | ESP | - |
| 51 | Viktória CHLADOŇOVÁ | SVK | - |
| 52 | Lyllie SONNEMANN | USA | - |
| 53 | Lison DESPREZ | FRA | - |
| 54 | Lauren ZOERNER | USA | - |
| 55 | Katherine SARKISOV | USA | - |
| 56 | Nadja HEIGL | AUT | - |
| 57 | Anna MEGALE | USA | - |
| 58 | Nina BERTON | LUX | - |
| 59 | Amálie GOTTWALDOVÁ | CZE | - |
| 60 | Xenna DE BRUYCKERE | BEL | - |
| 61 | Emeline DETILLEUX | BEL | - |
| 62 | Regina BRUCHNER | HUN | - |
| 63 | Alicia GONZALEZ BLANCO | ESP | - |
| 64 | Maïté BARTHELS | LUX | - |
| 65 | Anna PANUŠOVÁ | CZE | - |
| 66 | Kacey EYEINGTON | GBR | - |
| 67 | Xaydee VAN SINAEY | BEL | - |
| 68 | Kaija BUDDE | GER | - |
| 69 | Jana GLAUS | SUI | - |
| 70 | Kim VAN DE STEENE | BEL | - |
| 71 | Layla BARTHELS | LUX | - |
| 72 | Ann-Dorthe LISBYGD | DEN | - |
| 73 | Léa STERN | SUI | - |
| 74 | Kateřina DOUDĚROVÁ | CZE | - |
| 75 | Mille NIELSEN | DEN | - |
| 76 | Ana LOPEZ BURGOS | ESP | - |
| 77 | Dorothee PERRON | CAN | - |
| 78 | Rosalie DENK | AUT | - |
| 79 | Tomke WINDELBAND | GER | - |
| 80 | Elena DAY | GBR | - |
| 81 | Thea PERSSON | SWE | - |
| 82 | Siobhan KELLY | CAN | - |
| 83 | Giorgia SECCHI | ITA | - |
| 84 | Jorja BOND | USA | - |
| 85 | Marta BETI PEREZ | ESP | - |
| 86 | Luna CARRIO HERNANDEZ | ESP | - |
| 87 | Carla JIMENEZ VERA Y FRIAS | ESP | - |
| 88 | Viktoria DEHLER | GER | - |
Brand wins it in the middle, not the start
The opening lap belonged to the French. Amandine Fouquenet and Célia Gery blew the race apart, dragging Brand clear on the meadow-style twists, steps and first passages of sand. By the end of lap 1 the trio already had a sizeable gap while Pieterse and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado were stuck behind early chaos in the sandpit.
The race flipped on lap 2–3. Pieterse unleashed a 5:33, the quickest of the race to that point, slicing her deficit and jumping into the Brand–Fouquenet group.
Once Pieterse bridged across, Brand stopped following and attacked on lap 3 of 9, lifting the pace to World Cup TT mode. The gap to the chasers ballooned to around 20–23 s and then froze there. On a rock-hard, bumpy circuit with nine laps and almost no real recovery, that gap held.
From there, Brand did what she always does on heavy ground: maintain her pace. Her remaining laps sat tightly in the 5:37–5:46 band, never inviting Pieterse back into the fight despite the Dutch youngster clocking a 5:34 final lap as she secured second.
On a course that's usually a mud slog. The course was unrecognisably fast compared to previous muddy editions.
Behind, Pieterse had already ridden a series of big bridging efforts after the slower start. She first had to haul herself past Alvarado, then lock into a duel with Fouquenet.
On the bell lap Pieterse attacked. She sprinted the big bridge steps to take the lead into her best sequence – stairs, washboard and sand – putting seconds into the French champion and defending that margin to the line for another second place.
Fouquenet's third capped a relentlessly strong festive block, while Alvarado held off a late charge from Belgian champion Marion Norbert-Riberolle for fourth.
Dutch control, French momentum
On one of the calendar’s purest power tests, Brand’s win extends an already commanding World Cup lead, and her 11th win of the season. It reinforces the pattern we saw on the sand in Terralba and the draggy opener in Tábor: when the course becomes a tempo grind, everyone else is racing for second.
The story behind her, though, is encouragingly less Dutch-orange. Fouquenet’s podium and Gery’s aggressive top‑10 ride confirm that France now has real depth on the heaviest courses.
Cover image: Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com
