Lucinda Brand powers clear to win 2026 Koppenbergcross

Lucinda Brand delivered a controlled and increasingly dominant ride to win the 2026 Koppenbergcross, taking the opening round of the X²O Badkamers Trofee in 53:29. The world champion finished 53 seconds ahead of Sara Casasola, with Marie Schreiber third at 1:22.

Brand had been content to let others set the pace through the first half of the six-lap race, but once she accelerated on lap four the contest changed quickly. Casasola was the only rider initially able to respond, before Brand opened a gap on the Koppenberg and then continued to extend it all the way to the finish.

How it unfolded

Hélène Clauzel set the early tempo on the first ascent of the Koppenberg, stretching the field without immediately creating a decisive split. Casasola, making her first cyclocross appearance of the season, soon moved forward and helped form a five-rider leading group with Brand, Schreiber, Clauzel and Inge van der Heijden.

Behind, Fem van Empel faced a very different race after starting well down the grid. She worked her way forward rapidly and had reached sixth position around halfway, but the front of the race was already beginning to become more selective.

Schreiber repeatedly drove the pace and gradually reduced the lead group. Van der Heijden lost contact, then Clauzel was forced onto the defensive, leaving Brand, Casasola and Schreiber together at the front. Brand was noticeably more patient than her rivals, following the repeated accelerations rather than trying to force the race early.

That changed on the fourth of six laps. Brand accelerated and immediately put Schreiber under pressure. Casasola stayed with the Dutch rider for a little longer, but another increase in pace finally broke the Italian’s resistance. By the end of the lap Brand had opened an 11-second advantage.

The gap then grew quickly. Brand began the final lap roughly half a minute clear and kept pushing because every second matters in the time-based X²O Badkamers Trofee. Casasola had taken the maximum bonus at the first-lap intermediate sprint, but Brand’s sustained pressure through the second half of the race more than compensated.

There was no late mistake from the world champion. Brand climbed the Koppenberg for the final time with the race already under control and crossed the line 53 seconds ahead of Casasola. Schreiber secured third, while Clauzel and Amandine Fouquenet completed the top five.

It was Brand’s fourth win of the young 2026-27 cyclocross season after victories in Dendermonde, Ardooie and Overijse. Van Empel eventually finished eighth at 2:43 after her long chase through the field.

Koppenbergcross 2026 women’s result