Under bright sun in Benidorm, the women’s World Cup opened at a fierce tempo on the redesigned course, with the long, rising strip towards the finish already shaping the race. Early on, Amandine Fouquenet and Lucinda Brand showed at the front, with Shirin van Anrooij briefly taking charge before the field began to thin.
Fouquenet soon tightened the pace, forcing small gaps behind Van Anrooij and Brand, while Marion Norbert Riberolle struggled to hold contact and drifted out of contention. As the race settled, Fouquenet led a compact front group, with Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado gradually riding herself into the race after a slower start.
Lucinda Brand then took control, lifting the tempo sharply. Blanka Kata Vas glued herself to Brand’s wheel, with Fouquenet and Alvarado following, but the elastic snapped behind as the race fragmented. At halfway, seven riders were still in the fight: Zemanova, Fouquenet, Celia Gery, Van Anrooij, Alvarado, Brand and Vas.
Zemanova applied pressure on the steps and briefly opened a gap on Fouquenet, while Alvarado repeatedly lost a few seconds on the finishing climb before clawing her way back. Brand then surged from deeper in the group, storming to the front and testing everyone. That acceleration dropped Zemanova, Alvarado and Vas, while Fouquenet and Gery latched on as a French tandem in Brand’s wheel.
Brand makes her move
With three laps to go, Brand made her intentions clear. She pushed hard over the rising finish and crested with around 11 seconds in hand, choosing to ride her final rather than wait for a sprint. Behind her, Fouquenet, Alvarado and Gery regrouped to fight for the remaining podium places.
Brand pressed on solo and soon distanced the two French riders as well, riding further clear and into full control. Alvarado began to come into her own in the chase, refusing to concede. A technical mistake briefly forced her off the bike, allowing Gery to move ahead, but Alvarado fought back into the battle.
On the final lap, Brand held a margin of more than 20 seconds, while behind her it remained a three-way fight for second. Fouquenet and Gery briefly pushed Alvarado off the podium places, but the Dutch champion timed her move perfectly. Just before the sand section, she slipped past Fouquenet and then produced a technically sharp move to open a gap.
Alvarado secured second place, while Fouquenet and Gery contested third all the way to the line. In the uphill sprint, Fouquenet edged her compatriot by half a wheel.
Out front, Lucinda Brand rode unchallenged to her first victory in Benidorm and her 18th win of the season, ending the recent run of dominance by Fem van Empel at this venue.
Read also
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Who cares what Bruyneel thinks. He and his best mate Lance, the biggest fraud in the history of sport, have no place commenting on anything but how to lie and cheat!whit2pet02-11-2026
- Eeesh!Lozza02-11-2026
- bravo! a rider likes jonas needs motivation and he needs to believe in being able to reach goals. he - like anybody else in the world - doesn't believe that he can win the tdf with pogi present. and what's it worth for when pogi is not there? second class victory only. he has checked all three grand tours, so what is left if not retire? the classics! go for it, jonas!Ketterechts02-11-2026
- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
- dude, Lemond never even was in the same race as Armstrong. He throws all these aspersions on other American riders who might usurp his throne as the greatest ever American racer. He doesn't say a single thing about (foreign) dopers who he actually raced against. Biggest douchebag move ever. I used to revere that guy, now I despise him. His actions are so weird.fatsupermodel02-11-2026
- This is just stupid, You do what you are good at not what you are weak at. He has no results to speak of when he participated. Even Froome, Conatdor had very little. With Pogi there he wont win none of the classics. he is already 30+ with a few years left at the top. It takes years to get good at classics. Is that really worth the effort???abstractengineer02-11-2026
- Sure, little fella.awp02-11-2026
- You'll be the ongoing joke of 2027 with anything you post here!frieders302-11-2026
- Awwww your inside information must be from PogiFanGirl. You two daughters of different mothers?frieders302-11-2026
- Hey PogIFanGirl...wipe that cream from your lips! You're ever loving drooling and whatever you have for Tadej has your brain fried!frieders302-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment