First World Cup victory for Schreiber in Hulst

Marie Schreiber achieved her very first World Cup victory in Hulst. The Luxembourg rider led from the first to the last meter, finishing ahead of Lucinda Brand and Puck Pieterse.

As so often, it was Luxembourg’s Marie Schreiber who took the lead from the start, followed by her Team SD Worx – Protime teammate Kata Blanka Vas. Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) had a bad start, slipping off her pedal and immediately had to fight her way back through the field. Schreiber set a high pace from the first second and after one lap, she had built a lead of 11 seconds.

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM Racing) positioned herself as the solo chaser, but the gap continued to grow. By the end of the second lap, she was joined by Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Annemarie Worst (Cyclocross Reds), Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon), and Lucinda Brand. At that point, the gap to the leader was already 28 seconds.

Midway through the race, World Cup leader Brand found her rhythm and pushed the pace in the chasing group, gradually eating into Marie Schreiber’s lead. She left her fellow chasers behind and did everything she could to close the gap to the Luxembourg leader.

With 16 seconds separating them at the start of the final lap, Schreiber didn’t panic. She remained in the lead from the first meter to the finish line, securing her first-ever World Cup victory ahead of Lucinda Brand and Puck Pieterse.