The women's race at Zonhoven also revolves around the Kuil, the deep sand pit that the lap drops into three times, so it goes to whoever can keep pedalling through the sand and recover fastest on the steep climbs out. Sanne Cant holds the record with five wins between 2012 and 2018. Since the race joined the World Cup the winners have been Denise Betsema, Shirin van Anrooij, Puck Pieterse and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, who has won the last two editions. Her 2026 win came on a snowy, icy course where hardly anyone had a clean race. When Lucinda Brand faltered while trying to attack, Alvarado rode away to win by 23 seconds and end Brand's long winning streak. Held in the first days of the year, Zonhoven shows who is strongest in the sand as the World Cup enters its final weeks.