Lucinda Brand won the Exact Cross in Mol on Friday afternoon. The 34-year-old Baloise Trek Lions rider bid farewell to her teammate Shirin van Anrooij after twenty minutes, confirming her role as top favorite (in the absence of Puck Pieterse and Fem van Empel). Laura Verdonschot and Belgian champion Sanne Cant completed the podium.
Zoe Bäckstedt quickly got off to a fast start on her big gear, but it was Brand who was the first to enter the forest of the Kempen. This was a surprise because in the World Cup in Namur and most of the races before that, she had started moderately. Van Anrooij had mentioned before the race that Mol was one of her favorite races and had to quickly chase her teammate. Laura Verdonschot, who was allowed to start from the front row, partly due to the absence of Puck Pieterse and Fem van Empel, followed along with Bäckstedt, Manon Bakker and Sanne Cant as third, fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
On the shores of the Zilvermeer, the Baloise Trek Lions duo quickly distanced themselves from the rest of the field. The 34-year-old rider from Dordrecht navigated through the sand as never before and appeared to be dropping her teammate, who is thirteen years younger, when Brand made an impressive acceleration at one of the well-known ponds. Van Anrooij had a difficult moment and had to contend with Verdonschot. Van Anrooij - who had experienced a lot of bad luck in recent weeks and hadn't quite found her top form - clearly struggled with the wet sand.
Brand lay flat on the stretch of asphalt and gradually increased her lead to over twenty seconds. The battle for second place was indeed exciting, as Verdonschot, Van Anrooij, Bäcksted and Cant closely followed each other. The four ladies continuously exchanged positions between second, third, fourth and fifth place, but it was Van Anrooij who came out on top after a mistake by the Belgian champion. In the final lap, Verdonschot edged past her fellow countrywoman to secure third place, while Bäckstedt dropped one position compared to last year, finishing in fifth place.
Brand clenched her fist well ahead of the finish line and secured her third victory of the season. She had previously won the World Cups in the Irish capital Dublin and the French town of Flamanville. In the other races of this season, she has not yet missed the podium. The previous two rounds of the Exact Cross were won by Van Empel (Beringen) and Marion Norbert-Riberolle (Essen).