Lucinda Brand solos to victory in the opening round of the Telenet Superprestige

At the opening round of the Telenet Superprestige in Overijse, world champion Lucinda Brand claimed the first victory of the season. She broke away from the field halfway through the race and rode solo to victory. Van Alphen finished second, ahead of Van der Heijden in third.

European champion Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) was the quickest off the line and immediately opened up a gap alongside Brand (Baloise Verzekeringen–Het Poetsbureau Lions), Betsema (De Ceuster Bouwkranen) and Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen–Altez Industriebouw). The four leaders entered the second lap with a handful of seconds in hand.

On the second lap, Aniek van Alphen (777TV CX Team) and Zemanová (Crelan-Corendon) bridged the gap to the leading group. Dutch champion Alvarado (Fenix–Premier Tech) had a difficult start and was forced to chase early on. She was never able to rejoin the leaders.

Halfway through the race, world champion Lucinda Brand took the initiative. With Van Alphen and Van der Heijden on her wheel, she broke away from the rest of the group. Shortly afterwards, Brand accelerated again. No one could follow her pace, and she started the fourth lap solo with a handful of seconds in hand.

With one lap to go, Brand continued to extend her lead. The Dutch duo of Van Alphen and Van der Heijden were around 20 seconds behind and had to battle it out for second and third place. Brand remained untroubled and rode flawlessly to victory. Aniek van Alphen ultimately won the battle for second place, with Van der Heijden finishing third. It marks Brand’s third career victory in Overijse