Glory for Lucinda Brand and Niels Vandeputte! Superprestige season comes to a close at Noordzeecross Middelkerke
Cyclocross
Today marks the end of the Superprestige season at the Noordzeecross
Middelkerke. A week on from the World Championships in France, and it was Inge van der Heijden and Joris Nieuwenhuis who won the elite women's and elite men's races on the day, whilst Lucinda Brand and Niels Vandeputte secured the overall victories.
In the first lap of the men's race, there was a touch of controversy as Michael Vanthourenhout appeared to give Kevin Kuhn a push.
But in the absence of Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert, it was Nieuwenhuis, Eli Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout who appeared to be the strongest on the day. In the end, Nieuwenhuis was able to power ahead of Iserbyt, as the overall winner, Vandeputte, secured the final spot on the podium.
Inge van der Heijden secured the most significant victory of
her cyclocross career in the women's elite race, after 25 podium places she finally got her first win. Van der Heijden managed to fend off
Lucinda Brand, who nearly staged a remarkable comeback after a crash at the
first corner but ultimately had to settle for second place.
Despite finishing as the runner-up, Brand's performance was
enough to secure her third career victory in the overall classification of the
Telenet Superprestige cyclocross series. During the final round in Middelkerke,
her lead in the standings was never in jeopardy, as her main rival, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, was not on the start line. Brand will be especially happy to have won this title, after missing out on the world title to Fem van Empel last weekend.
Although she finished behind an impressive Inge van der
Heijden in Middelkerke, Lucinda Brand still crossed the finish line as the
victor overall, and this marked the former world champion’s first Superprestige
title since 2022. Thanks to Brand and Alvarado, a Dutch woman has now won the title for the past six straight seasons.
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Fin MajorCycling Journalist
Fin Major is a UK-based writer at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2024. He is the site’s main writer for FAQs and evergreen explainers and has written around 2,000 pieces for the platform. Alongside this work, he focuses on in-depth analysis and covers the biggest races on the calendar, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, providing clear context around performance trends, tactics, and key storylines.
In his reporting, Fin uses reputable data sources such as ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available. Outside of writing, Fin is an active cyclist, which supports his practical understanding of the sport and its demands.
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- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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