Results Cyclocross World Championships | Lucinda Brand becomes World Champion;

The cyclocross World Championships 2026 have crowned Lucinda Brand the rainbow jersey once again. The women's elite race saw an all-Dutch podium with the season's dominator taking her second world title. In Hulst, she was joined by Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Puck Pieterse on the podium.

The race started off with the Dutch swarming the front, as expected. The technical course in Hulst never allowed for much technical racing, but instead gaps right from the start fruit of the explosive course and the frequent climbs and descents off steep banks and ramps.

Puck Pieterse, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Blanka Kata Vas quickly opened a gap to the rest at the start of the race, but were joined by Lucinda Brand shortly after. The Hungarian was dropped and the battle for the win and medals looked to be exclusively Dutch; however this would change when Puck Pieterse would dramatically crash in one of the bank sections.

Marion Norbert Riberolle in the chasing group was disqualified, after having pushed Kristyna Zemanova after the two collided and crashed late in the race. Meanwhile up front, the rac would begin to be decided as around the same time an error by Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado saw the gap between the two rise and quickly after Brand began growing it dramatically.

Despite the power between the three becoming relatively even over the past few weeks, Brand managed to ride into victory at the world championships, her second after she achieved the same back in 2021. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado rode to second on the day whilst Puck Pieterse managed to save herself and get herself a bronze medal on the day. Tomorrow, Mathieu van der Poel will be the main favourite to win the men's elite race, in an edition that could bring the Netherlands another set of uncontested victories.