Brand does the weekend double
Her victory in the X2O Trofee race in Hamme, Belgium, was probably her best race of the year as she took the lead at the first curve of this highly technical and muddy course and kept it all the way to the finish, six laps later. She was chased the entire way by European champion Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon), who was never really dominated but never came close to catching her.
At the end, the gap was a mere 9 seconds, but it was the closest van der Heijden came to the winner since the middle of lap 3. The improving Aniek van Alphen (Seven Racing) finished third after an exciting tussle with 22-year-old Marie Schreiber (SD Worx–Protime), who was riding her first ‘cross race of the season after a lengthy rest following a busy road season, in which she won the Luxembourg U23 Road Race Championship and and Elite Women’s Road Race and ITT Championships. After staying with van Alphen for most of the race, she dropped her chain about 100 meters from the line and had to pick up her bike and cross the finish at a dead run, 1:04 behind Brand. [See full results here.]
In Saturday’s Superprestige Merksplas, Brand hit the front of a four-rider lead group late on lap 3, grew her lead out to 11 seconds at the end of lap 4 and was never seriously challenged again. Van Alphen and van der Heijden were left to fight for second, which was decided by the latter’s problems in the mud, when she slipped and hit the fence on lap 5, and dropped down to fourth place. She recovered, but could not catch van Alphen, who finished 10 seconds behind Brand, with van der Heijden at 13 seconds, 1 second ahead of 21-year-old Leonie Bentveld (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw). [Full results here.]
“I noticed that I wasn’t always the best in the sand, but that was exactly when they had a hesitation,” Brand said about her winning move. “I was able to carry my speed and I thought, I’ll give it a try. It turned out to be the right moment straight away.”
Asked about her possibly achieving 50 straight podium finishes the next day, she said, “I’m not really into statistics, but this is very special.” Indeed it is.
Nys outduels Mason
Sunday’s Elite Men’s X2O Trofee race came down to a thrilling mano a mano between European Championship runner-up Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions) and three-time British cyclocross champion Cameron Mason (Seven Racing), who raced away after an error by Emiel Verstrynge hindered the rest of the leading group of riders on lap 4. With the in-form Mason putting going all out, the pair gradually extended their lead to 15 seconds at the end of lap 7 of 10. That lap Nys made a critical bike change, as he’d looked uncomfortable and without his usual punch. But he came out of the pit riding confidently and fast.
Nys had the lead at the end of lap 7, Mason led at the end of laps 8 and 9, and the two exchanged leads in the final lap until the Belgian made a daring inside move on a tricky hairpin and put on the afterburners as the finish approached, beating Mason to the line by 1 second in yet another exciting finish. Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing) came from the back of the pack to finish an excellent third, 12 seconds adrift. [Here are the full results.]
He hit the deck on the very first turn and had to make his way through the entire peloton until he found himself within striking range of the podium on lap 5. His main competition for third place was Nys’s teammate Lars van der Haar, who is riding in his final season. Van der Haar also came from the back of the pack to be in the race for a minor slice of the pie, but Nieuwenhuis was stronger when it counted and beat him to the line by 2 seconds.
A bad start with a happy ending
Nieuwenhuis also had a bad start on Saturday, crashing on lap 2 and loosening his shoe and then colling with Verstrynge in the first wet and muddy race of the season. “There were those ruts [in the mud], and Emiel made a mistake,” he explained. “He went too far to the right and I ran into him, which caused the bike to take a hit and the chain flew off. I thought ‘not again’, but I also thought ‘I’ll see where I end up’.”
He ended up with the lead group near the end of lap 5, then took the lead for good after a powerful ride through a difficult sandpit on lap 7 in which all his rivals struggled, but especially Nys. He led Verstrynge and the other chasers by 5 seconds after lap 7, was ahead of Niels Vandeputte (Alpecin-Deceuninck) by 12 seconds at the end of lap 8 and won the race by 6 seconds over Vandeputte, with Verstrynge another second back in third. [Full results here.]
“I realized quite quickly that I felt great and I noticed that others were making a lot of mistakes, and that I was getting through it fairly easily,” Niuewenhuis said. “I put on pressure for half a lap to see what it would do. After that I rode very well through the sandpit and I had a small gap. Then I just kept going.”
