27/10/2024

Brilliant Lucinda Brand holds off late Van Empel charge to take victory at Superprestige Overijse

The brilliant Lucinda Brand has continued her excellent start to the cyclocross season, taking a dominant victory at Superprestige Overijse ahead of Fem van Empel and Sara Casasola.

It didn't take long for the world champion Fem van Empel to show herself at the front and at the end of lap 1, the Visma star, Sara Casasola and Helene Clauzel held a narrow lead over the rest of the pack. As mentioned though, they weren't completely clear and soon after the likes of Inge van der Heijden, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Lucinda Brand and Blanka Kata Vas were all back into contention.

The first of the group to make a big move was Dutch champion Brand, drawing Casasola clear with her. Van Empel, who missed the initial move, was left chasing hard behind in third. As Brand continued to put the power down, Casasola too was soon dropped, leaving the Dutchwoman solo at the head of the race. With two laps to go, her advantage over the regrouped duo behind had stretched to 11 seconds. Despite a small mistake on the penultimate lap, Brand took the bell still 10 seconds clear. Attacking Casasola, Van Empel began her charge towards Brand on the final lap, but although she was cutting into the time gap, the world champion had simply left herself too much to do.