New Year’s Day in Baal rarely offers a gentle reintroduction to racing. The GP Sven Nys is built to expose hesitation – steep pitches, greasy cambers and a circuit that gets harder every lap as the lines deteriorate. On Thursday 1 January 2026, it produced two races that were decided in different ways: Lucinda Brand struck early and then managed the gap with control, while Mathieu van der Poel turned a messy, physical contest into yet another solo display, even with a mid-race crash.
Men’s race: Van der Poel turns the screw, survives a crash, and rides away
The men’s race began with a familiar Baal pattern – early chaos, a fast start, and riders trying to buy position before the mud turned every corner into a gamble. Wout Janssen hit the opening sections strongly, but the front quickly re-ordered as Thibau Nys moved up and the pace sharpened.
By lap two, the race had formed into a dangerous front group that contained most of the obvious candidates: Van der Poel, Nys, Cameron Mason, Toon Aerts, series leader Joris Nieuwenhuis and a cluster of riders hovering on the limit as the circuit forced constant accelerations. Baal does not reward smooth drafting for long; the climbs and off-cambers repeatedly break rhythm, and the technical mud turns “steady” into “survive”.
Van der Poel’s move was less a single attack than an accumulation of pressure. He started to gain separation in the heaviest, most technical sections, where bike handling and power combine into something that looks effortless – but rarely is for anyone else. Emiel Verstrynge briefly provided the most credible resistance, bridging across to make it a two-man lead on the third of eight laps.
Then came the moment that could have changed everything. Van der Poel crashed on a climb after getting caught in a deeper, heavier line – exactly the kind of Baal mistake that can end a rider’s day if it costs momentum and confidence. He was back up quickly, closed the damage, and immediately returned to applying pressure rather than riding defensively. That response mattered as much as the crash itself: it stopped the race from resetting and forced Verstrynge back into pure damage limitation.
From there, the gap grew in a controlled, incremental way. Van der Poel finally put daylight between himself and Verstrynge, then used the mud to make every chase effort more expensive. Behind, Nys was left balancing risk and reward – close enough to believe in second, but never close enough to re-open the winning fight. The margins expanded into something decisive, and Baal became what it so often becomes in his presence: a solo finish.
Photo Credit: GettyX2O Trofee Baal 2026 Men result
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Women’s race: Brand strikes early, then seals the X2O Trofee overall
If the men’s race built towards separation, the women’s race snapped into shape almost immediately – and it hinged on one early slip.
Jolanda Neff produced the first statement, launching into the opening lap with real intent and forcing the favourites to respond rather than settle. Brand, Puck Pieterse and Zoe Bäckstedt sat close enough to see what was happening without spending too much too soon – the sensible approach on a circuit where the second half of the race is usually where the damage truly accumulates.
The key moment arrived at the steps. Pieterse made a costly slide on the slick wood, lost positions, and suddenly had to chase rather than dictate. Brand did not wait for the race to calm down. She moved past Neff, lifted the pace and turned that brief hesitation behind into a gap that mattered straight away.
Within two laps, the situation had stabilised into a clear hierarchy: Brand alone in front, Pieterse working back into second, and Bäckstedt in third with the clock already stretching. Pieterse’s deficit reached around 20 seconds early, a gap that is far from impossible in theory – but only if the leader offers mistakes or hesitation.
Brand offered neither.
“It looked maybe not like it, because I made a gap already in the first lap,” she said afterwards, “but to keep that gap and keep the speed on this course… it was pretty hard.”
That comment cut to the reality of Baal. Once you are alone, you get no help, and the circuit constantly asks you to keep traction and momentum on climbs that punish any lapse. Brand managed the race like a rider completely at home in those demands, maintaining speed through the mud and defending her advantage without ever turning it into a frantic effort.
Pieterse, to her credit, kept riding. She steadied her rhythm after the early slip and finished strongly – but she never truly brought the gap back under control. Her own explanation was blunt and specific.
“I was basically good away,” Pieterse said. “Then we came to the steps. They weren’t completely covered… I stepped on the slippery wood and slid away. I saw Lucinda already had a little gap… for myself, I ruined it there.”
Brand’s win was not only another chapter in her extraordinary run of form – it also settled the bigger story. By taking victory in Baal, she made her overall lead in the X2O Badkamers Trofee mathematically secure with rounds still to come, turning New Year’s Day into a double success: the race win and the series wrapped up.
X2O Trofee Baal 2026 Women result
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