"She was clearly the fastest today": Lucinda Brand takes back the cyclocross crown with a dominant victory in Niel

Following a disappointment at the European Cyclocross Championships, Lucinda Brand arrived for the Jaarmarktcross Niel with an added motivation to prove who's the best cyclocrosser in women's peloton. And in the third round of Superprestige on Tuesday, the Baloise - Trek Lions star was unmatched by her rivals to win by a difference of a class.

However Brand refuses that the race Niel would be her redemption arc: "No, the European Championships were this weekend and we had a really nice orange podium, so that's fantastic," Het Nieuwsblad quotes the winner of Jaarmarktcross. "Am I still going for the Superprestige classification? No, the plans haven't changed."

Just like in Middelkerke, her closest rivals were the new European champion Inge van der Heijden and Aniek van Alphen. "Aniek made a mistake, so I thought: I'll give it a try right away. That put me in a position where I just had to keep going. Inge really kept applying pressure, but I could feel where I was better than her."

Once a gap had opened behind Brand, the Dutchwoman is known to hardly ever let go of her advantage. And in Niel, the race proceeded as expected from that point onwards. "I tried to consolidate a bit in between and give a little extra in the areas where I was better. She started to break very slowly, so it really took a while."

Afterward, it was a smooth ride towards her fifth victory of the season, despite a bloody knee. The reason? The experienced Dutch rider had a collision early in the race. "I actually had a little slide early on, but I was able to immediately rejoin. Anyway, you don't have it on a video, so that's a good thing," she laughs.

Van der Heijden initially stayed close to her experienced compatriot, but she lost considerable ground in the final laps. "I had a tough time, Lucinda started to gain straight away," she reflected on the race afterward with Sporza.

"I tried to keep the gap as small as possible, but she was clearly the fastest today," Van der Heijden said, adding that she can certainly live with her second place. The Crelan-Corendon rider not only achieved a podium finish, but she is also the new leader in the Superprestige after today.

The late withdrawal of her teammate Sara Casasola – due to a crash at the recent European Championships – has completely overhauled the Superprestige. "I just heard I'm the team leader. It's a shame it has to be this way, but we're obviously happy she's staying on the team."

Like on Saturday, Aniek van Alphen was also the third best Dutch rider in Niel. Despite a few mistakes during the race, the 26-year-old seemed mostly happy to once again climb onto the podium. "There were several points I did better in the reconnaissance. That's a bummer, but it's part of the game," she said, according to Sporza.

Van Alphen was particularly impressive in the challenging sand sector. The Seven Racing rider even managed to cut through this stretch of sand a few times while cycling. "I had the right track, it didn't take much effort, and the crowd went wild," is how she describes it.