Lucinda Brand just keeps winning. The Baloise Glowi Lions rider had to dig deep in the Czech Tábor to hold off Sara Casasola and Inge van der Heijden, but she succeeded and claimed the first World Cup victory of the season.
The cyclocross season has been underway for some time now, but the first World Cup races were still awaited. On Sunday, it was finally time: the first round of the most important season-long competition took place in Tábor. It has been a while since a World Cup race was held in Tábor, but the Czech town remains an absolute classic in the cyclocross world.
| Year | Winner |
|---|---|
| 2025 |  Lucinda Brand |
| 2022 | Fem van Empel |
| 2021 | Lucinda Brand |
| 2020 | Lucinda Brand |
| 2019 | Annemarie Worst |
| 2018 | Lucinda Brand |
| 2016 |  Karla Stepanova |
| 2015 | Pavla Havlikova |
| 2013 |  Katherine Compton |
| 2012 | Sanne van Paassen |
In the women’s category, fans are still waiting for Fem van Empel, Puck Pieterse, and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado to return, but with Shirin van Anrooij another big name was back in the field. The Dutch all-rounder was preparing for her first race since December 23, 2023, but had to start from the very last row since Van Anrooij has hardly collected any UCI points in recent years.
photo: Photographic agency Cos Vos
Brand shakes up the race early on
In other words, the Baloise Glowi Lions rider was facing a serious chase, unlike her teammate Lucinda Brand. The multiple winner of recent races quickly took the lead and applied her well-known race strategy—to wear down the competition—but Inge van der Heijden clearly had other plans. The European champion was feeling strong and decided to push the pace even further.
The field was split quite early. Van der Heijden, Brand, Leonie Bentveld, Aniek van Alphen, and hometown rider Kristýna Zemanová began the second lap with a small gap over the first chasers (Crelan-Corendon duo Manon Bakker and Sara Casasola). And Van Anrooij? She had already charged up to 36th position from the back, but was about forty seconds behind.
Calm before the Czech storm
Back at the front, Brand and Van der Heijden made a very strong impression, but Bentveld, Zemanová, Casasola, Van Alphen, and Bakker remained on the heels of the top riders of the moment. With some sharp tempo accelerations, Brand managed to thin out the leading group further, but she still couldn’t shake off Van der Heijden and Casasola—who had been sidelined for weeks—completely.
So, it all came down to the final lap. In this last lap, Brand once again pulled out all the stops. Van der Heijden was about to crack, but the incredibly strong Casasola didn’t give an inch and managed to answer Brand's attacks several times. However, this tough competition didn’t faze Brand, who quickly regained the lead and in the final moments managed to gain a few meters over Casasola.
Level with Vos
Brand turned onto the final straight with a clear advantage and controlled the sprint. The 36-year-old rider notched her eighth victory of the season and finished on the podium for the 51(!)st consecutive time in a cyclocross race. Brand thereby equals the record of her compatriot Marianne Vos, who once achieved such a feat in the past. At the upcoming World Cup race in Flamanville, Brand can become the sole record holder.
Sara 𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒂𝑺𝑶𝑳𝑨 🇮🇹❌
Lucinda manda 🇳🇱🫡
Brand recoge la #CXWorldCup 2025-26 donde la dejó la pasada campaña y triunfa en una gélida Tabor 🇨🇿
📺 Todas las carreras de ciclocross, siempre en Eurosport y @StreamMaxES#LaCasaDelCiclismo pic.twitter.com/pkqWwUfBg6
— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) November 23, 2025
photo: Photographic agency Cor Vos
UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup - Tabor| Rank | Rider | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 45:13 | |
| 2 | + 01 | |
| 3 | + 13 | |
| 4 | + 25 | |
| 5 | + 30 | |
| 6 | + 32 | |
| 7 | + 52 | |
| 8 | + 01:14 | |
| 9 | + 01:25 | |
| 10 | + 01:27 |
