Lucinda Brand overcomes bad start and stays ahead of Van Empel in Superprestige Overijse

The race in Overijse was the second in this year's Superprestige series, following the cyclocross in Ruddervoorde in the Netherlands, where Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado proved the strongest, beating world champion Van Empel and Dutch champion Brand. Van Empel was not yet in top form, making the race in Overijse all the more exciting. Last year, the Visma | Lease a Bike rider had been by far the best.

A lightning-fast start created a significant split just two minutes in. Brand, who won the Night of Woerden earlier this week, had to dismount on a tricky section, losing considerable time on foot. Alvarado was also left behind in the shuffle. Van Empel saw this and pushed hard, with Sara Casasola and Hélène Clauzel able to keep up, while Brand and Alvarado were about five seconds behind by the end of the first lap.

Halfway through the second lap, Brand managed to catch up with the lead group, while the winner of Saturday's Exact Cross Heerderstrand was still slightly behind but closed the gap before lap three. This left seven riders at the front: Blanka Vas and Inge van der Heijden also joined. The pace slowed momentarily, but not for long — Brand launched a strong attack, immediately creating a gap that only Casasola could follow. Van Empel and Alvarado initially couldn’t keep up, giving them work to do.

On the uphill sections, Brand was by far the strongest. She struck a gap at the start of each lap. In the fourth lap, she shook off her Italian competitor and continued solo. Van Empel rejoined the second-placed rider but couldn’t get closer to Brand. With two laps to go, Brand had an eleven-second lead on the pair, with Alvarado, who had swapped bikes, trailing by 34 seconds. Everything seemed to be going smoothly until the leader had a minor fall in a slow corner.

Although Brand didn’t lose much time due to the fall, her chasers closed the gap slightly. In the final lap, the world champion shed her fellow pursuer, setting up an exciting two-way battle. Van Empel did everything she could to reel Brand back in, coming a bit closer, but the veteran was too resilient and held off her approaching rival. In the final stretch, Brand extended her lead again as Van Empel cracked, securing her second consecutive victory. Van Empel finished second, ahead of Casasola.