A battle down to the wire
On a rain-drenched but fast course, with puddles that were probably deeper than the elevation gained, a lead group of 11 riders eventually formed. Vanthourenhout and Joris Nieuwenhuis (Ridley Racing) spent most of the first six of nine stages exchanging the lead position in the group, and it long appeared that they would take their duel all the way to the finish. But eventually Laurens Sweeck (Crelan-Corendon) and then Pim Ronhaar (Baloise Glowi Lions) joined the skirmish for the front, which turned muscular when Ronhaar jostled Sweeck while passing him on a corner on lap 8, and Sweeck responded with an elbow that caused him to lose his balance and drop down to sixth.
At the end of that penultimate lap, there were still eight riders within 6 seconds of each other as the battle for the lead became serious and Vanthourenhout, Nieuwenhuis, Sweeck and Ronhaar disputed the win among themselves. With about 500 meters left to ride, tragedy struck Ronhaar as he suffered a flat on a bike he had just swapped for. He would finish a disconsolate 10th. After some serious back-and-forth, Vanthourenhout attacked in a sand pit and soon had a decent gap, which he was able to maintain all the way to the line. Nieuwenhuis and Sweeck came in second and third, 1 second behind the winner.
“It felt good to be fighting for the win again,” Vanthourenhout said after his first World Cup win of the season. “I felt very strong today, but it was difficult to make a gap.” It was his first win since October and follows a string of five races in which the 2024-25 World Cup champion missed out on the podium. “In the final lap I was lucky that I could move up on the inside,” he explained. “Hopefully that slightly weaker period is now behind me.”
“It was quite a hard race in the end because I had a good feeling that me and Michael [Vanthourenhout] were the best in the race at the start,” Nieuwenhuis said. “We tried to get away, but it was quite hard. I tried to defend my position all the time and hoped to do something in the last lap. I think Michael got a bit better of a line and [had] a bit better legs. He just got the better of me in the end.”
The World Cup leader Thibau Nys (Baloise Glowi Lions), who won the first two races of the series, in-form Cameron Mason (Seven Racing) and European champion Toon Aerts were among the riders who skipped the race, which was one reason 11 riders competed with hope until the final lap. Nys still leads the series with 80 points, to 76 for Sweeck and 75 for Nieuwenhuis.
Brand is still irresistible
Will Lucinda Brand lose another race this year? That’s the question I had after watching her yet again demolish a field of her rivals in Sunday’s Elite Women’s race. She has now won five races in succession and nine of 11 races this season; and she has now finished on the podium for the 52nd time in a row. The only rider who could challenge her dominance, Fem van Empel (Visma–Lease a Bike), is still out with an unspecified illness and no date for her return has been announced.
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The Terralba course, with lots of fast, hard ground, deep muddy puddles and clinging sand suited Brand’s power, and she was clearly feeling powerful. The 36-year-old Dutchwoman attacked in a tricky sand pit early on the second of six laps, quickly opened up a gap of 20 meters and was never threatened. Chased by last weekend’s winner Aniek van Alphen (Seven Racing), the resurgent Shirin van Anrooij (Baloise Glowi Lions), Sara Casasola (Crelan–Corendon) and Leonie Bentveld (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw), her lead was 9 seconds after lap 2, 17 seconds after lap 3 and 31 seconds after lap 4. At the end, her winning margin was 20 seconds over van Alphen, with the resurgent van Anrooij – who was riding only her third cyclocross race in two years – 33 seconds adrift.
“There were some difficult sectors and Aniek was held up a bit, which made me feel like I had the momentum,” Brand said after the race. “I went straight away and wanted to see where that would take me.” She also acknowledged teammate van Anrooij’s contribution in the chase group. “Shirin was there as a team-mate as well,” Brand said, “and that automatically makes the morale of your opponents drop a little.”
Van Anrooij was in a thrilling nip-and-tuck battle with van Alphen for second that saw the two riders try to out-tactic each other for the last three laps. It was decided with about 200 meters to go when van Alphen opened a small gap and van Anrooij subsequently had a mechanical issue that caused her to slow down. But the former junior and under-23 cyclocross world champion was not discouraged in the least after securing her first World Cup podium since January 2023. “I’m getting closer and closer back to a good cyclo-cross shape,” she said. “I’m super happy to be back. It’s really beautiful after two years to be back on the podium of the World Cup.”
Top 5 Elite Men – Terralba CX World Cup 2025
- Michael Vanthourenhout, Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw) 1:03:17
- Joris Nieuwenhuis, Ridley Racing +0:01
- Laurens Sweeck, Crelan–Corendon “
- Ryan Kamp, Fenix +0:07
- Niels Vandeputte, Alpecin–Deceuninck +0:08
Top 5 Eliet Women – Terralba CX World Cup 2025
- 1. Lucinda Brand, Baloise Glowi Lions 47:14
- Aniek van Alphen, Seven Racing +0:20
- Shirin van Anrooij, Baloise Glowi Lions +0:33
- Leonie Bentveld, Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw +1:02
- Sara Casasola, Crelan–Corendon “
