Lucinda Brand solos to victory in Lokeren and becomes leader in the X²O classification

X²O Trophy Lokeren (women)

13:45 Lokeren

Lucinda Brand has recorded her third victory of this season in Lokeren. The Dutch champion immediately gave up and barely allowed herself to be caught making a mistake. With her third bouquet of flowers, she is on par with Fem van Empel (absent today) and Ceylin Alvarado, who was runner-up in the Rapencross. Brand is also the new leader in the X²O rankings.

No Fem van Empel in the Rapencross in Lokeren – the 2nd round of the X2O Trophy – after her victory at the European Championships. Van Empel also won the first round of the X2O Trophy on the Koppenberg and so Lucinda Brand could do well in the rankings.

Brand didn’t have a great start, while Sara Casasola took the holeshot. But in the first lap, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado had a problem with her bike after the bars, which put her behind.

That was the signal for Brand to increase the pressure. Worst and Casasola were able to follow the longest, but still had to drop out.

The Dutch champion soloed to victory, while Alvarado came back in the background after a strong catch-up race. She eventually finished in 2nd place at 21 seconds. Casasola was third on the podium.

Lucinda Brand: “Happy”

For Brand it is her 3rd victory of the season. “You want to balance a bit between getting to the finish as fast as possible, but not pushing the limit because there will be a new cross tomorrow,” Brand said afterwards.

“But you still want to grab those seconds. Then I started to lose my concentration and I made some stupid mistakes, that’s something I have to be more critical about.
I tried to make it hard from the front, because it is difficult to follow here because you often have a dead spot when you are in the wheel.”

“I saw that Alvarado had a problem with her chain, so I knew that and then she rode a strong race. I don’t know if she couldn’t do it anymore or if she had tomorrow in her head, but she rode a good race by coming back like this. come.”

“This is very rewarding, I always want to win and it is also nice to take a lead in the rankings.”

Result X²O Trophy Lokeren

ranking
	name	result
1	Lucinda Brand	in 46’07”
2	Ceylin Alvarado	op 21″
3	Sara Casasola	34″
4	Laura Verdonschot	52″
5	Annemarie Worst	1’07”
6	Marion Norbert Riberolle	2’09”
7	Zoe Backstedt	2’20”
8	Denise Betsema	2’30”
9	Manon Baker	2’37”
10	Fleur Moors	2’51”

Verdonschot finishes 4th at 52″. Worst completes the top 5.

Brand wins her 3rd cross of the season

Brand wins in Lokeren

Lucinda Brand wins her 3rd cross of the season and is also doing well in the rankings. After her failure in the first round, Alvarado finished 2nd at 21″. Casasola was allowed on the podium.

Alvarado has still broken free from Casasola. The Dutch is on her way to place 2.

Brand is having a difficult moment, but she can afford that in the meantime. She then goes up the slope while walking.

Verdonschot has moved to 4th place. Worst follows at 5th. Norbert Riberolle is 6th, ahead of Bäckstedt.

Last round

The bell rings in Lokeren. Brand starts the final lap with a reassuring lead of 27″ over the Alvarado-Casasola duo.

While Brand shakes his head as he drives past a doubled rider, Casasola takes another gel in Alvarado’s wake. Can that extra energy help the Italian in the battle for 2nd place?

4th place is also not yet fixed. Verdonschot comes to Worst.

Casasola was in a small gap, but rejoins Alvarado. It will be an exciting battle for 2nd place.

With 2 rounds to go, Alvarado still has 13″ to make up. So she is chipping away at her deficit little by little, but this way she will no longer be able to catch up with Brand.

It’s going to be tough for Brand.

Paul Herygers

And Alvarado is already with Casasola. The Dutch woman has great legs, but can she still go all the way to the front after her cycling problems? She now has a free job.