Brand cements remarkable cyclocross season winning World Championships in Hulst

Lucinda Brand (Netherlands) won the UCI Cyclocross World Championships elite women's race for the second time in her career in Hulst, Netherlands. Brand put Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Netherlands) to the sword in the final couple of laps in the battle for the rainbow jersey.

After winning the Worlds in 2021 in Ostend, Brand has been the standout rider during the 2025-2026 season, winning the UCI World Cup and eighteen victories throughout the campaign before the Worlds

Despite this dominant season to date, there were question marks over Brand’s form following a calf injury that plagued her last week in Maasmechelen, which put an end to her streak of 63 consecutive podium finishes. However, Brand put any doubts to bed with a convincing performance, marking her nineteenth victory this season, finishing 0:27 ahead of Alvarado, who took silver.

Meanwhile, Puck Pieterse (Netherlands) was ruled out of the battle for the rainbow jersey after a heavy crash on a descent, but the Dutch rider battled her way through the pain and recovered to pull clear of a large group to claim the bronze medal and ensure that the Dutch team swept the podium on home soil, finishing 0:51 behind Brand.

Following three-time defending champion Fem van Empel’s announcement that she would step away from the sport indefinitely, there would be a new winner of the elite women’s race for the first time since Marianne Vos outprinted Lucinda Brand in Fayetteville, United States, in 2022.

Puck Pieterse won the holeshot with Alvarado and Brand tucked in the wheel, as the Dutch squad took control early. Meanwhile, Amandine Fouquenet (France) didn’t get off to a favourable start, and the French rider had to work her way into the top 10 in the opening minutes of the race. Blanka Vas (Hungary) also got off to a good start alongside the Dutch trio.

At the end of the opening lap, a front group of six riders had formed, featuring Alvarado, Brand, Pieterse, Jolanda Neff (Switzerland), Kristýna Zemanová (Czechia), and Vas. Fouquenet had pulled clear of the rest and was closing the gap at 0:07 as the leaders crossed the line.

Alvarado pushed the pace in the early stages of the second lap, whilst Fouquenet joined the front group. Shortly after, the Dutch trio started to pull clear from the rest as things started to look ominous for those behind in the hunt for a medal. Pieterse started to open a gap at the end of the lap, but it was quickly closed by Brand at the start of the third lap. 

Pieterse suffered a crash on one of the circuit's steep ascents as Brand started to pull clear, and required a bike change, which saw her lose over 0:20 and be caught by the second group of riders.

Alvarado had to work hard to close the gap to Brand, but the race leader was holding the advantage of 0:06 well by the end of the third lap. Meanwhile, Fouquenet attacked from the chase group through the line as the battle for the bronze was on. 

Alvarado managed to close the gap after Brand suffered a crash on an uphill section, leaving the front duo locked together mid-way through the fourth lap, as Alvarado moved to the front. 

In the chase group behind at over 0:30, Fouquenet lost momentum in the hunt for a medal as the French rider also crashed, whilst Marion Nobert Riberolle (Belgium), and Zoe Bäckstedt (Great Britain) also joined what was a large group battling for third. Fouquenet would return to the front of the chasing group before the end of the fourth lap, determined to take the bronze.

On the fifth lap, Zemanova slipped out on a corner, which caused Riberolle to crash also. In frustration, the Belgian rider pushed the Czech, which resulted in a disqualification. Up front, Alvarado and Brand were locked in a battle for the front position into the key technical sections on the Hulst course. Towards the end of the fifth lap, Brand started to open up a gap on Alvarado and started to slowly but surely surge clear. The gap as the riders hit the final lap was 0:10.

Pieterse, Fouquenet, Vas and Neff were in the battle for the podium, with Bäckstedt chasing. Pieterse looked to be recovering from her heavy crash well enough to begin to open a gap, but a small slip allowed Vas to make it a two-way battle for bronze. In the end, Pieterse pulled away as Vas slipped. Up front, Brand had enough time to plan her celebration as she claimed her second world title.

Afterwards, Brand could barely hide her emotion. “Amazing. It’s really good to have such a great season, to also win on the most important day, like some people call it. It’s just, fantastic for home crowds.” 

After eighteen wins and the World Cup already in the bag, she still delivered when it mattered most, and she sounded as relieved as she was proud to have finished the job.

“I mean, if it goes so well, of course, you also dream to win this race,” she said. “So, I mean, I did have the title already, so relief is maybe bigger if I hadn’t won it yet, but yeah, it’s just fantastic, here for all the crowds, in my own country.” 

And that, she stressed, was the difference. “What makes it way more special is that there were a lot of people to cheer me on instead of just five people of staff in Oostende. So, yeah, it’s great.”