Pieterse wins World Cup Maasmechelen as Brand's podium streak comes to an end

Jan 24, 2026

Pieterse wins World Cup Maasmechelen as Brand's podium streak comes to an end

Puck Pieterse took her first World Cup win in two years at Saturday's elite women's race in Maasmechelen, Belgium, the penultimate round of the series. The Fenix-Premier Tech rider's second victory of the season came after a near race-long battle with Amandine Fouquenet, right up until the French rider suffered a late puncture. This allowed Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado back into the fold, and she was able to seal a Fenix-Premier Tech 1-2, Fouquenet settling for third.

The overall World Cup standings remain unchanged at the top with Lucinda Brand mathematically secure after last weekend's World Cup Benidorm, but it was otherwise a day the Dutch veteran would surely like to forget as not only did Brand's podium streak come to an end – on 63 – but with 10th across the line, she registered her first finish outside the single digits since 2018 (she has though chalked up a few DNFs in the interim).

Lucinda Brand’s remarkable CX podium streak stops at 63

“It would have been cool if we had managed to equal Mathieu van der Poel’s streak. But that’s not the most important thing, right?”