In the wear and tear, on and around the racecourse in Oostende, three Dutch riders entered the final round with Brand, Annemarie Worst, and Denise Betsema. Brand had the best impression throughout the cross and poked on the sand strip on the beach, after which Betsema had to release first. Annemarie Worst still held on, but in the last km made a mistake and had to let her compatriot go to gold. Just like last year, she finished second, eight seconds behind the winner. Betsema crossed the line in third, nineteen seconds from Brand. After an early fall, defending champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado had to chase the entire race and eventually ended up in sixth place, Sanne Cant became the best Belgian with eighth place.
Top 10 :GOLD: Lucinda Brand (Ned) 46’53” (5 laps)
SILVER: Annemarie Worst (Ned) @8″
BRONZE: Denise Betsema (Ned) @19″
4. Clara Honsinger (VS) @52″ 5.Yara Kastelijn (Ned) @1’04” 6. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Ned) @1’12
7. Evie Richards (GB) @1’13”
8. Sanne Cant (Bel) @1’43”
9. Elisabeth Brandau (Ger)) @2’07”
10. Christine Majerus (Ned) @2’08”
World champion Lucinda Brand told the media: “This world title does a lot to me. It has not been for a few years and it is very cool that it is just now. Denise had started very well and immediately hit a big hole. But actually, I knew already after that you should never give up. It is a long process, we had a very exciting final lap: Annemarie and I took different lines and we crossed each other. I just hit her elbow. She fell unfortunately, I would have preferred it differently.
