A battle of two women wearing rainbow stripes concluded with world champion Fem Van Empel (Jumbo-Visma) prevailing over former world champion Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) at the third round of the X2O Trofee in Herentals.
The pair fought one another at the head of the race during the final two laps of five through the Belgian mud, with Brand making a comeback from the chasing group to catch the 21-year-old.
Van Empel, who wore a bandage on her knee following a training crash, and Brand stuck together until midway through the final lap, only putting more and more time into those dropped behind, including Annemarie Worst (Cyclocross Reds) and Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal).
Van Empel stole a march on her fellow Dutchwoman during the major mid-lap climb, pushing on by a few seconds. But Brand got back on well in time for the start-finish straight to set up a sprint finish.
A late wobble on an off-camber downhill corner set Brand back a few metres once more, forcing her to expend more energy to get back on Van Empel's wheel.
The pair raced towards the line together with Van Empel leading out, but Brand couldn't quite come alongside her rival for the win. The world champion raised her arms in triumph for the 10th time in 10 races this season, a fraction ahead of Brand.
"I never had such a good grade at school." Van Empel joked after the race in reference to her perfect record, according to WielerFlits. "It was a very tough race, with quite a lot of intervals. Lucinda Brand was super strong today."
"For me, it was a bit of a shock to the system after last week," she added, referring to her crash and a recent cold. "But that does not detract from Brand's performance, because you see again: he never lets up."
"I've been in bed all week. Then you see how quickly your body has trouble digesting that stimulus. But at least I'm happy that I'm reasonably healthy again. From now on things can only get a little better physically."
Van Empel now extends her lead at the head of the X2O Trofee rankings. She now holds a substantial lead over Betsema in second.
"It's a few extra seconds, that's nice," she said. "There are still a number of crosses in the new year, so I'm curious. In any case, I'm going for it."
Worst rounded out the podium at 42 seconds back, the Dutchwoman having earlier been part of the chase group along with Brand. Another chaser, Betsema, took fourth place at 1:11, while Briton Anna Kay (Cyclocross Reds) was fifth at 1:49.
Brand had earlier stuck to Van Empel's wheel during an acceleration on the first lap of the race, while Worst and Betsema were joined by Manon Bakker (Crelan-Corendon) in the chase.
On the second lap, the groups came together at the head of the race following an attempted break by Brand. However, Van Empel was soon out front on her own once more, going clear on the mid-lap climb.
Brand, Worst, and Betsema lay eight seconds down at the end of the lap, and it looked as though the world champion would be away solo for the finish line. Brand had other ideas, though, pushing on alone in the chase and closing to within two seconds of Van Empel the next time through the finish.
She'd make it back on lap four, setting up the big finale that would eventually result in yet another Van Empel victory – albeit a narrow one.
Results
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