Lucinda Brand finally added the Koppenbergcross to her already vast palmarès, mastering a soaked, brutally heavy Koppenberg to win the opening round of the X2O Trofee. The Baloise Glowi Lions leader rode clear on the second and third passages of the famous cobbled climb, then survived a late surge from 19-year-old French revelation Célia Gery to take her third victory of the cyclocross season and her first ever on this course.
The race was loaded with narrative even before the start. World champion Fem van Empel was chasing a fourth consecutive win on the Koppenberg, returning to competition after illness forced her out of the Druivencross in Overijse. Brand arrived with two wins from three starts and a near miss in Overijse. Sara Casasola brought the form that has made her one of the most consistent riders of the early winter. And then there was Gery, fresh from her under-23 world road title in Kigali, stepping into one of the hardest technical tests in cyclocross.
Van Empel’s emotional exit changes the script
The Koppenberg lay slick and treacherous under the riders. The cobbles were wet, the off-cambers greasy, the descents rutted, the whole lap stretching to around eleven minutes of grinding effort. Gery, undaunted, hit the first ascent in the wheel of the three big favourites: Brand, Van Empel and Casasola.
Marion Norbert Riberolle, the Belgian champion, never managed to get into that front slipstream and quickly found herself out of the picture for the win. Van Empel, meanwhile, had a strong start but her body told a different story. Halfway through the opening lap she began sliding back through the first group, the world champion visibly shaking her head as she rolled into the pits. Moments later she stepped off, still shaking her head, clearly upset as she spoke with her staff.
It was a stark contrast to the rider who only days earlier had hit the landmark of 50 cyclocross victories at Heerderstrand. Visma Lease a Bike would later confirm that she had simply not recovered from illness earlier in the week. Her attempt to defend her Koppenberg crown ended after barely half a lap.
Brand and Gery take over as Casasola crashes out of contention
With Van Empel gone, Casasola initially took control. The Italian pressed hard on the climbs and drops, trying to thin the group. Instead it was her own race that unravelled first. On one of the Koppenberg’s treacherous descents she misjudged her line, crashed, and ceded both momentum and position.
By the end of the long opening circuit Brand had moved into the lead for the first time, with Gery locked onto her wheel. Amandine Fouquenet chased behind but could not close the gap to the new lead duo.
On the second and third ascents of the Koppenberg the pattern became clear. Brand’s diesel engine came fully into play. Each time she hit the cobbles she leaned into the gradient, pushing a pace that even the fearless French teenager could not quite match. Gery lost a handful of seconds on every climb and, as the race moved into its middle phase, Brand was sitting on a cushion of around twenty seconds.
A late scare on the off-camber, then release
Just when the race looked locked, the Koppenberg bit back. In the final lap Gery produced a remarkable passage across one of the long Offroad cambers. Where Brand hesitated and picked her way through, the French rider danced along the slope, slicing a huge chunk out of the gap. Suddenly the advantage that had looked comfortable was melting away and the favourite was visibly rattled.
“I went really deep,” Brand admitted afterwards. “Normally I stay very calm in that situation, but I think I wanted to be too careful so it actually made me slower. On that off-camber and the descent I was just messing about a bit, while that should have been my strength. Those are free seconds you give away.”
Gery looked for a moment as if she might complete the comeback and connect with Brand before the final time onto the cobbles. But the effort cost her. Having burned matches to close the gap, she had little left to launch one more acceleration. Brand hit the last passage of the Koppenberg with a renewed margin, emptied herself on the gradient and crested alone, the race finally secure.
Mere seconds after crossing the line she sat down on the wet cobbles, utterly spent but visibly relieved. A first Koppenbergcross win after several near misses meant as much emotionally as it did on paper.
“Célia was so strong, she is not world champion among the under-23s for nothing,” Brand said. “I knew I had to start the last climb with a gap. It is great to see new talent coming through, and I hope she will make it hard for me many more times.
“This race is always circled in red for me. I have been close a few times and it never worked out. It only gets harder here, but that makes finally winning it even more special.”
Behind the leading pair, Casasola recovered from her earlier crash to ride a more controlled second half, limiting her losses on the climb and finishing third, ahead of Fouquenet and the rest of the chasing group.
2025 Koppenbergcross Women result
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Photo Credit: GettyNys turns season debut into a one-man show on the berg
If the women’s Koppenbergcross hinged on subtle shifts in momentum, the men’s race was defined by a single, decisive change of pace. European champion Thibau Nys chose Koppenbergcross as his first race of the 2025-26 cyclocross season and promptly turned it into a statement ride, going solo on the second lap and never looking back.
The 22-year-old had ended his road season in August and mapped out a long, ambitious winter in the mud, skipping only the first two weekends of racing. Koppenbergcross, with its iconic climb and unforgiving terrain, was his chosen launchpad. By the time he reached the top for the final time, waving to the crowd and lifting both arms, he had his second Koppenberg win after triumphing here in 2023.
From cautious start to complete control
Nys did not rush the opening lap. While riders like Toon Aerts and Pim Ronhaar traded turns on the front, he sat in the top fifteen, measuring the course and the conditions. The Koppenberg was muddy and slick, demanding constant concentration, and the early rhythm was high as the field stretched across the hill and into the fields above.
By the end of that first circuit Nys had already drifted forward into the top three. Aerts had suffered a slide on the Offroad sections, Ronhaar led a small group that also contained Nys, British champion Cameron Mason and Jente Michels, with a ten-second gap over the first line of chasers including Victor Van de Putte, Emiel Verstrynge and Aerts.
Then Nys made his move. On the second lap he increased the pace on the climb and technical sections, Mason briefly matching him before the Belgian eased away. Once he had daylight, the pattern was familiar: smooth lines, powerful accelerations out of the corners, constant pressure on every ramp.
With four laps to go he held ten seconds over Mason, who was riding a strong, committed race, with Ronhaar and Michels chasing together a little further back and Aerts trying to claw his way into contention.
Mason’s bad luck, Nys’ clean run
Behind, things started to unravel for Nys’ closest potential rivals. Michels dropped his chain on the climb at the end of a lap and was forced to walk up to the pits for a new bike, losing contact at the worst possible moment. Mason then crashed on an Offroad slope, sliding into a wooden post. He remounted quickly, but the impact broke a closure on his shoe.
From that point on the Scot was effectively riding one-legged compared to his usual sprinting style, turning the pedals with a broken shoe but refusing to give up. When he later shook his head towards his mechanics as he entered the pit, it was as much an acknowledgment of the situation as a refusal to gamble more time on a shoe swap.
Nys, by contrast, had a flawless run. With three laps remaining he had eighteen seconds over Mason, with Ronhaar at 51 seconds, Van de Putte at 1:27 and Aerts at 1:31. One lap later the gap over Mason had nudged out towards half a minute, the European champion floating up the Koppenberg and threading the descents with a confidence that comes only when both legs and bike are cooperating.
On the final circuit, he had enough margin to enjoy the occasion, still riding hard but allowing himself glances back and a wave to the fans on the last climb. Mason held firm for second despite his equipment issues, a performance that underlined both his form and resilience. Ronhaar completed the podium after managing his effort on a course that punished every mistake.
For Nys, the win did more than just open his X2O Trofee account. It set the tone for the long season he has mapped out, confirming that the balance between his road campaign and the winter focus has been judged correctly. On a day when others battled crashes, chains and shoes, he kept everything simple: move up steadily, attack once, and let the Koppenberg do the rest.
2025 Koppenbergcross Men result
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