Lucinda Brand repeats in Niel
One year ago, Lucinda Brand made her Telenet Baloise debut with a dominant win at Jaarmarktcross 2019 in Niel. On Wednesday, she became a repeat champion after a much tougher fight. Following a slog through predictably sloppy conditions, Brand approached the line in a dead sprint against Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, nipping the world champion by just one second on the stopwatch.
The course featured sand and clay pits that had been made sticky from several days of rain. Alvarado, who beat Brand by 10 seconds at the World Championships in Switzerland last February, was riding Niel for the first time in her career. The course was difficult to manage. Several riders, including the Lions’ Ellen Van Loy, tumbled against the barriers or after slipping in the mud.
Lucinda Brand running up the mud ahead of Denise Betsema.
Lucinda Brand atop the podium next to Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (left) and Denise Betsema (right).
With under two laps remaining, Brand was well behind a leading trio of Alvarado, Yara Kastelijn and Denise Betsema. She gradually clawed her way up to form a quartet, and took the lead into the final lap, pouring enough pressure from the front to drop Kastelijn from the group.
Brand weathered a desperate acceleration from Betsema, who would finish third, and saved just enough muscle to hold off Alvarado in an exciting finish. With the result, Brand’s second year with the Lions is somehow off to an even more thrilling start than her first.
“It was a super relief to finally beat the strongest riders,” Brand said. “Every time I was on the podium, I felt it was possible to win, so I’m super happy it finally worked out.”
Jaarmarktcross was the third leg in the eight-race Superprestige series. Brand sits second in the standings with 41 points, three behind Alvarado.
Toon Aerts suffers flat
In the men’s race, Toon Aerts was locked in a dogfight with European champion Eli Iserbyt and Belgian champion Laurens Sweeck, but a flat front tire on the penultimate lap took him out of contention for the stage win. Aerts salvaged a third place finish. Up ahead, Sweeck opened a gap over Iserbyt, his teammate, through the sand pit to win by five seconds.
Aerts now sits in seconds place in the Telenet Superprestige series with 42 points, just one behind Iserbyt.
Toon Aerts managing the mud.
Toon Aerts (right) fought the stage with Eli Iserbyt (left) and Laurens Sweeck (middle).
