“I had the momentum. I went straight away” – Lucinda Brand’s incredible run of consecutive podiums reaches 52 with dominant win at World Cup Terralba

Lucinda Brand extended one of the most remarkable streaks in modern cyclocross as she claimed her ninth victory of the season — and her 52nd consecutive podium — with a commanding solo performance at the World Cup round in Terralba.

The Dutch former world champion rode away from the field as early as lap two, eventually crossing the line in tears after one of the most emotional wins of her season.

Brand’s race-defining move came almost immediately. After forming an initial lead group with Aniek van Alphen, Shirin van Anrooij, Sara Casasola and others, she surged clear through a muddy sector that broke the race open. “There were some difficult sectors and Aniek was held up a bit, which made me feel like I had the momentum,” Brand explained. “I went straight away and wanted to see where that would take me.”

From there, she never looked back. By the end of the second lap, Brand felt the race had simplified into a head-to-head — and the time gaps only widened. “At the start it felt like quite a challenge, but by the end of the second lap it was one-on-one,” she said, after ultimately winning with twenty seconds over Van Alphen and thirty-three over Van Anrooij.

While Brand powered clear, the race behind featured a fiercely contested duel for the remaining podium places. Van Alphen — racing in the leader’s jersey — fended off Van Anrooij’s repeated accelerations before finally securing second place, extending her advantage in the overall standings.

Van Anrooij, riding just her third race of the winter after last season’s injury-hit campaign, produced her strongest performance of the year so far to take third — her first cyclocross podium since 2023.

Brand acknowledged the psychological impact of having a team-mate present in the chase group: “Shirin was there as a team-mate as well, and that automatically makes the morale of your opponents drop a little.”

Crossing the line in tears, Brand celebrated not only her Terralba triumph but also the continuation of an astonishing consistency streak. With nine wins and two runner-up finishes already this season, her form appears sharper than ever following her recent training camp — and Sunday’s emotional reaction made clear how much this victory meant.