Yikes, that seemed odd. We’ve seen plenty of riders who are rightly relegated or given the boot for deviating their line in sprint…but today? Dunno about that.

Lucinda Brand is the European cyclocross champion, but the result came with an uncomfortable twist. Marie Schreiber crossed the line first after a thrilling battle in Zeddam, The Netherlands on Saturday…only to be relegated following a controversial sprint with Brand.

The jury’s decision

The decision sparked plenty of debate. Even Brand’s camp questioning the jury’s intervention, which makes it all that weirder.

Schreiber moved off her line in the closing metres as Brand tried to come around. However, the Dutch rider was never completely blocked, nor did she appear to lose significant speed. That’s the whole reason you’re not allowed to mess with your line–so you don’t purposely slow down your opponent.

“I changed gears and moved a little to the left, but I left space,” Schreiber told WielerFlits. “It’s not as if it was decided by two centimetres.”

Brand didn’t even notice anything bad in the sprint

Brand initially didn’t believe anything bad had happened. She even hugged Schreiber after the finish, seemingly accepting that she’d been beaten.

I thought at least in cyclocross, these small deviations are still allowed but apparently not. 😪 Marie Schreiber was relegated and Lucinda Brand is the Women Elite European CX champion. 50/50 but for me too harsh, Luxembourg got robbed.
#Zeddam2026 https://t.co/ISZ38Vr8MB

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) November 7, 2026

“Marie and I simply had the same speed at the end,” Brand said. “I felt like she beat me on merit.”

Brand’s coach and team manager, former pro and world champ Sven Nys was equally unconvinced by the jury’s decision. “I find it very debatable,” he said. “If it were up to me, I would never have intervened.”

The jury reviewed the footage independently, without a protest from Brand or the Dutch federation, and eventually relegated Schreiber.

No Marie Schreiber on the podium after her unreasonable DSQ.

If the 🇳🇱 Dutch wanted to organise a home party for themselves today, they can do it alone.

It’s terrible that his discrimination still exists in countries that want to host an international championship.

#cycling https://t.co/KshpYlRXST

— CyclingBottle (@Cyclingbottle) November 7, 2026

The Luxembourg rider was so upset that she didn’t attend the podium ceremony. (Good for her, and she will probs also get a fine, to boot, after the boot.) That left Brand and third-place finisher Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado to collect their medals without her.

Schreiber said her team director, former world champion Sanne Cant, advised her not to attend.

“I thought everyone would hate me if I didn’t go,” she said. “Giving interviews is difficult, but standing on the podium would have been even harder.”

Brand made no attempt to celebrate too, too much. .

“Normally, when you win a title, you feel euphoria,” she said. “I’m standing here with a pretty awful feeling.”

The elite men’s race is tomorrow. Speaking of drama, we saw some after the race when Michael Vanthourenhout lost his shit against Cameron Mason on Thursday. Hopefully he puts his big boy pants on tomorrow during, and after, the race.