Marianne Vos beats Lucinda Brand and conquers eighth cyclo-cross world title | cycling

Immediately after the start there were five Dutch women in the front. In addition to Brand and Vos, these were Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Laura van der Heijden and Yara Kastelijn. The last two were driven into a hole after the first lap by the trio of Brand-Del Carmen Alvarado-Vos.

On the second lap Brand accelerated and took a small lead over Del Carmen Alvarado and Vos. The latter, however, soon fought back, passed Del Carmen Alvarado and from the crossing after two laps the expected battle between the native Bossche and Brand developed.

Lucinda Brand during the Cyclo-cross World Championships.

Ⓒ ANP/HH

Del Carmen Alvarado had to leave a gap, while Brand Vos emphatically requested to take the lead. The defending champion saw her request emphatically ignored, but at the start of the fifth lap Brand forced Vos to drive through the inside, so she had to take the lead. Both women then took it easy, after which Vos asked Brand to take over again.

But Brand, in turn, turned a deaf ear to this for a while, after which Vos attacked twice. Brand cracked, but stuck with her competitor, who had already won seven world titles before Saturday evening. In the end it was not enough, because in the sprint Vos eventually crowned himself champion.

Marianne Vos in action on the track in Fayetteville.

Ⓒ ANP/HH