Queen Lucinda goes full steam ahead after stunning comeback to win in Gullegem

The youngest legs were clearly the most explosive, as Zoe Bäckstedt and Leonie Bentveld were the first to dive into the field. Diving was also happening in the background, with some big names involved in an early tumble in the mud. Due to the freezing cold during the night and the thaw in the morning, it was extremely slippery in Gullegem.

Bäckstedt is automatically among the first when mud is mentioned, but next to her and Bentveld, brand-new Fenix-Deceuninck rider Puck Langenbarg also had a good start. As always, Brand had to warm up in her Dutch champion jersey, but she had already moved up a bit among all the youngsters during the opening lap. Alvarado was fit as well.

After one lap Bäckstedt, Bentveld, and Alvarado had a gap on the chasers with Brand, and Brand could not immediately correct that on the second lap. Together with the fast-running Marion Norbert-Riberolle, the two were stuck about ten seconds behind the front three. There, it was Alvarado who smelled blood and accelerated on the third lap.

The Dutch woman did not lose the younger riders immediately, and the tireless Brand did not give up either. She rode Riberolle off the wheel and hung on for ten to eleven seconds. At the front, therefore, they could not look at each other, and so Bäckstedt gave it a whack on lap four of the five. However, a bike change by the British rider allowed Alvarado to create a nice gap.

Bäckstedt deflected the attack, but Bentveld's momentum faded due to this acceleration. Brand caught up with her compatriot and moved up to third place. At this stage, she showcased enormous power because, in one fell swoop, she passed Alvarado and Bäckstedt. And so we suddenly had three women who went into the last phase still fighting for the win. Bentveld was not in the game anymore.

Believe it or not, after four laps of chasing, Brand still had some fuel to push in the final lap. Alvarado could follow for a while but broke under the massive pace of her competitor. In the final minutes, Brand broke away from her pursuers, with Bäckstedt finishing second to Alvarado after pushing and pulling. This also makes Brand the new leader in the Superprestige ranking.