Brand and Nys win first round of UCI World Cup in Tábor, Czechia
At long last, the UCI Cyclo-Cross World Cup has got underway in Tábor, Czechia, with elite victories for Lucinda Brand and Thibau Nys, both racing for Baloise Glowi Lions.
Brand had a fight on her hands with two key rivals who have animated the 25-26 season thus far, with Sara Casasola and Inge van der Heijden – the only two riders to have beaten Brand so far – joining her in the lead group as the race progressed. In the last of five laps, an acceleration from Brand ended the European champion's challenge, and she kept the pressure on to drop the Italian in the corners leading into the finish. With this result, Brand took her 51st consecutive podium, eighth win of the season, and pulled on the first World Cup leader's jersey of the series.
On the results sheet, the elite men's race looked rather closer than it was in reality. Thibau Nys spent six and a half laps alone after a crash from Joris Nieuwenhuis created daylight, and the Belgian national champion was never seen again. The battle for second was hard-fought around half a minute behind Nys, and all the while a steady drop in temperature made the terrain harder and harder to predict, causing more slipping and sliding in the closing laps.
Earlier in the day, junior races were won by Soren Bruyère Joumard and Barbora Bukovská, and the under-23 men's was won by David Haverdings. There was no standalone U23 women's race, however, fourth-place elite finisher Leonie Bentveld topped the U23 category that afforded the Dutch rider a trip to the podium for the series leader's jersey.
Elite women's top 5
- Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions) 45:13
- Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) +0:01
- Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) +0:13
- Leonie Bentveld (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez) +0:25
- Aniek van Alphen (Seven Racing) +0:30
Elite men's top 5
- Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions) 1:03:39
- Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) +0:08
- Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing Team) +0:10
- Jente Michels (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:12
- Emiel Verstrynge (Crelan-Corendon) +0:27
