OPENINGHulst, Netherlands — a 3.24 km lap with 40 m of climbing per circuit, seven bridges, off-camber turns and a brutal 22-step staircase, raced over six laps. The defining absence shaped the whole day before it started: Fem van Empel, winner of the last three rainbow jerseys, had put her career on hold over the winter, so there was no defending champion on the start line and no clear favourite. A Dutch-heavy front group formed early, with Brand and Pieterse among the strongest from the opening laps and Alvarado riding herself into contention.

UNFOLDSThe lead narrowed to a small group of Dutchwomen as the technical sectors and the staircase took their toll. Brand, the most experienced rider in the race at 37, used the relentless rhythm of the course to grind out a gap rather than win it with a single explosive move — a hallmark of her best cyclocross days. By the closing laps it was Brand alone at the front, with Alvarado holding second and a knot of riders disputing bronze behind.

DECIDEDBrand was still only about ten seconds clear when the last-lap bell rang, but she rode the final circuit cleanly and turned a slender margin into a decisive one, extending her lead to 27 seconds by the line. Behind her the bronze fight was the live question: Pieterse came through a chasing group that also held Hungary's Blanka Kata Vas and France's Amandine Fouquenet, and resolved it on the final lap to take the last podium step.

FINALEAn all-Dutch sweep — Brand first, Alvarado second at +27", Pieterse third at +51" — with Vas (4th, +56") and Fouquenet (5th, +58") just off the podium. Brand's winning time was 49:16. It was her second elite world title, five years after her first in Ostend in 2021.