Results European Championships 2026 elite women and U23 men - Major drama as Marie Schreiber RELEGATED after dramatic sprint as Lucinda Brand crowned European champion
Cyclocross
The Cyclocross European Championships elite women's race served up a dramatic final sprint as it appeared Marie Schreiber beat Lucinda Brand in a run to the line. However, shortly after the finish it has been reported that the Luxembourg rider had been relegated to second place for a sprint deviation - meaning Brand is the new European champion.
Schreiber looked to have become the first non-Dutch rider to win the race since 2017. However, Brand has now been confirmed as the winner after an entertaining battle between the two. Beforehand, France's Aubin Sparfel took the men's under-23 title in Zeddam.
World champion Lucinda Brand, Fem van Empel, defending champion Inge van der Heidijn, Aniek van Alphen and Celyin del Carmen Alvarado headlined a remarkably strong Netherlands team expected to command the direction of the race.
The opening two laps threw out an interesting race dynamic from the off as a non Dutch rider in Luxembourg's Marie Schreiber looked to upset the odds and surged to a healthy lead at the front, forcing the Netherlands' hand as Alvarado and Brand broke off in chase.
They found themselves 14 seconds adrift at the end of two laps as it appeared Brand was being relied upon to lead the chase. Behind, the Netherlands also dominated the main group behind.
Again the duo in chase seemed to struggle with cooperation as Brand attacked over the finish line into the fourth lap. However, Brand suffered a small crash in a corner as she lost ground as Alvarado made it across to Schreiber. With the Dutchwoman finally reaching the front, she went to work and drove a hard pace - despite Brand just around seven seconds behind the duo and the rest of the chase group over 40 seconds down.
Lucinda Brand
Brand joins Alvarado and Schreiber at the front
Into lap five, medals began to become the focus as it appeared the duo, and now, Brand just a second behind were enjoying such a gap that they could well end up on the podium.
In the penultimate lap, Brand began to race on her own terms as she took to the front. Despite being brought back Schreiber surged into corners and the key stepped section to keep pace with Brand while Alvarado battled hard to stay in touch.
Heading into the final lap, the trio took the bell as the gold medal came into full view. Both Brand and Alvarado held the advantage as former European and world champions as Schreiber chases her first major championships crown at elite level.
Early in the lap, Schreiber squeezed ahead of both riders up the pivotal 99 steps to surge ahead and put the pair under pressure on terrain that suited her. But Brand and Alvarado rallied to keep in touch.
Alvarado crashed in a wooded section as her chances for gold faded while Schreiber drove the pace with Brand in her wheel into the final sections of the race. The Luxembourgish rider hit the sand pit first as she took the final corner ahead with the world champion in her wheel for a final sprint.
She led out the sprint and opened up first down the centre with Brand in the slipstream - winning the sprint by a mere inches in a sensational finale. Not initially clear in the finish, Schreiber just edged out the world champion. Alvarado held on for third place, sporting an apparent injury to her hand and wrist.
However, shortly after, a review of the sprint saw Schreiber apparently deemed to have deviated in the line. The overhead shot showed the Luxembourgish rider move slightly to her left and in the way of Brand, who was sprinting on the barrier side.
In the U23 men's race, France's Aubin Sparfel was the big favourite after his perfect start to the season, with Belgian Giel Lejeune impressing in the early season and compatriot Viktor Vandenberghe in contention.
Sparfel takes gold medal
In a tense race, the Belgian pair fought well to hold the Decathlon rider's wheel throughout the course. Italian riders Filippo Grigolini and Stefano Viezzi also battled well but just missed out on the podium place.
At the end of seven laps, it came down to a sprint to the line on the long and slightly uphill final straight. However, Sparfel couldn't be denied a fourth victory in a row as he maintained his perfect start to the season - winning the U23 European champion's jersey ahead of Lejeune and Vandenburghe in second and third respectively.
Earlier in the day, the first medals of the day were won as Belgian rider Lentel Huys was crowned junior women's champion at the age of just 16 - winning by nine seconds over Swiss rider Shana Huber.
Speaking after the race, she said: “I won’t really realize it until the evening. Beforehand, I was hoping for a medal, but a jersey makes it just a touch more special. I still have a long way to go and a learning process ahead of me, but I still have plenty of time."
Read also
Results European Championships 2026 elite women
| Placing | Rider | Nation | Time |
| 1 | BRAND Lucinda | Netherlands | 51:37:00 |
| 2 | SCHREIBER Marie | Luxembourg | ,, |
| 3 | ALVARADO Ceylin del Carmen | Netherlands | 0:17 |
| 4 | VAN DER HEIJDEN Inge | Netherlands | 0:57 |
| 5 | BETSEMA Denise | Netherlands | 1:00:00 |
| 6 | BAKKER Manon | Netherlands | 1:02 |
| 7 | ZEMANOVÁ Kristýna | Czech Republic | 1:16 |
| 8 | CLAUZEL Hélène | France | 1:20 |
| 9 | VAN ALPHEN Aniek | Netherlands | ,, |
| 10 | BRAMATI Lucia | Italy | ,, |
Results European Championships 2026 U23 men
| Placing | Rider | Nation | Time |
| 1 | SPARFEL Aubin | France | 46:58:00 |
| 2 | LEJEUNE Giel | Belgium | ,, |
| 3 | VANDENBERGHE Viktor | Belgium | ,, |
| 4 | GRIGOLINI Filippo | Italy | ,, |
| 5 | VIEZZI Stefano | Italy | 0:05 |
| 6 | VANDEN EYNDE Mats | Belgium | 0:20 |
| 7 | BAŽANT Kryštof | Czech Republic | ,, |
| 8 | CORSUS Yordi | Belgium | 0:22 |
| 9 | VAN DEN BOER Arthur | Belgium | 0:45 |
| 10 | HAVERDINGS Floris | Netherlands | 0:57 |
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Are you MrMauMau 2.0? Nothing you are saying is really relevant. Vaguely connected, but irrelevant. The conversation is whether Schreiber impeded Brand or not.
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - He is boring
leedorney08-11-2026 - To Twoje przemyślenia te bla, bla :)
Dariusz08-11-2026 - Uwielbiam patrzeć, jak wyjeżdża na czoło peletonu i zaczyna się rzeź...Dariusz08-11-2026
- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- 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
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