Strong Brand defeats surprising Schreiber in Dutch cyclo-cross, Van Empel fails to convince again

Woerden in Utrecht (the Netherlands) was the scene of a cross on Tuesday evening. Under the artificial light, an excellent group of women competed for victory. They included world champions Van Empel and Brand. One remarkable participant was Wiebes. Recently, she switched from a road bike to a gravel and track bike, with some success. Just a week ago, for example, she won gold in the Scratch event at her World Championship debut on the track. ;

Of all the ladies, Van Empel had the best start. She entered the field first, with Hungarian Blanka Vas and Dutch champion Brand hot on her heels. After the first lap, the differences were still small. Besides the trio, Inge van der Heijden and Manon Bakker were in the front. Brand had seized the initiative from Van Empel in the second lap and tried to put pressure on the rest with a furious pace. However, it didn't cause much damage. That did come in a tricky turn. Where Brand just managed to stay upright, Bakker slipped moments later. She could not keep up with the rest anymore.

Van der Heijden accelerated as she crossed the finish line after the second lap. She took the lead, but Van Empel, Vas, and Brand were close behind. In the following lap, Van Empel briefly took over from her compatriot. A little further on, however, she took a more cautious approach again, allowing Van der Heijden to retake the lead position. Meanwhile, the foursome at the front had become a six; Aniek van Alphen and Scheiber from Luxembourg joined in after an intense chase.

Brand then decided to give it another big blow. Van Empel was the only one able to follow convincingly. Vas and Van der Heijden struggled greatly, whereas Schreiber made an increasingly better impression. For Van Alphen, however, Brand's attack was too much. That left five women in front. Schreiber showed herself unimpressed by the company of Van Empel and Brand and moved into the lead at the beginning of the second-to-last lap. She continued to blast undisturbed into the lead, and just before entering the final lap, a mistake by Van Empel allowed her to create a nice gap.

Brand saw the danger and made the move to cross. Van der Heijden, Vas, and Van Empel had no answer, especially from the remarkable world champion. Sunday, she also didn't make a convincing impression in the Supperprestige of Ruddervoorde in Belgium. It thus turned into a duel between Brand and the surprising Schreiber. The latter had to hand over the lead to Brand, who now stepped on the gas. Schreiber cracked under the force and had to let go of the Dutch champion. Brand won after a strong race, ahead of Schreiber and Van Empel. The SD Worx rider Wiebes took seventh place, demonstrating her top form over the past few weeks.