Lucinda Brand is but to complete off the rostrum of a cyclocross race this season – a run of 24 top-three finishes on the bounce. With two extra victories in consecutive days this weekend, the 35-year-old cemented her title as probably the most constant rider within the elite ladies’s area.
Brand’s run of consecutive podiums extends even past this season having completed within the prime three of her ultimate eight races final season, making it 32 podiums in a row. Only Puck Pieterse (35 races) and Marianne Vos (51 races) have had longer podium streaks amongst lively ladies’s riders in cyclocross.
The Baloise Glowi Lions rider leads the ladies’s World Cup standings by 61 factors with three rounds remaining and will seal the general sequence on the subsequent spherical in Benidorm later this month. Brand additionally leads each the celebrated Superprestige and X20 Badkamers Trofee sequence as she bids to finish a clear sweep of titles.
She led from begin to end to win her second World Cup spherical of the season in Dendermonde on Sunday, forward of rivals Pieterse in second and world champion Fem Van Empel in third.
“It feels superb to win, in fact,” mentioned Brand after clinching victory by 30 seconds. “But additionally I believe it is the primary time I believed ‘Oh one other lap, actually?'”
“At the top of the penultimate lap, my hole elevated so I simply needed to deal with the very powerful elements and to maintain sufficient pace there.
“The mud was tremendous heavy. First I had a battle with Puck [Pieterse]. But in some unspecified time in the future, if you happen to drive there alone, it is tremendous good to have a lot encouragement [from the crowd].”
The World Cup win was Brand’s tenth race in 15 days through the Christmas and New Year interval, ranging from the World Cup in Hulst on December 21. Brand additionally completed runner-up on the sand dunes of Koksijde on Friday earlier than profitable at Gullegem on Saturday and in Dendermonde 24 hours later to shut out a busy weekend.
“Yes, it is absurd and the coaching logic will not be there, I believe,” added Brand.
“But the coaching logic does say that it’s a must to put together for the World Cup.”
Brand mentioned {that a} ‘improbable’ highway season with Lidl Trek has contributed in the direction of her cyclo-cross success.
After final season’s cyclocross marketing campaign, Brand competed within the spring Classics earlier than profitable the 1.1 ranked Elmos Dwars door het Hageland in June and a stage of the Internationale LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour.
Brand completed the Giro d’Italia Women earlier than inserting eighth general within the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift after a shocking trip on the ultimate day up Alpe d’Huez, which additionally noticed her teammate Gaia Realini take fifth general.
She posted on Instagram after taking victory at Gullegem and the Superprestige lead.
“This season is simply wonderful! So many individuals ask me how I handle to point out up recent and prepared for each single race,” Brand mentioned. “After a troublesome few years of unhealthy luck and accidents and well being, every thing is lastly going in line with plan!
“Thanks to a improbable highway season with Lidl Trek, I’ve constructed up an unimaginable basis. Now, it’s all about fine-tuning each little element. Nutrition, coaching, restoration, and surrounding myself with the appropriate individuals— that is the place the true positive factors are made.
“This 12 months, I’ve constructed an unimaginable assist staff: a devoted masseur, physio, chiropractor, coach, and extra. Every piece of the puzzle issues, and collectively, we’re elevating the bar!
“We’ve additionally made an enormous step ahead with our gear. SRAM Road has offered us with the best possible gear, fine-tuned to perfection!
“And then there’s my coach, Paul Van Den Bosch, who is solely the most effective. Together, we’ve created a exact plan to sort out my weaknesses head-on. Paul calls me each single day to verify we’re on monitor and to tweak issues if wanted. His ardour and steerage are really inspiring!
“Moving to Belgium has been one other game-changer. I’m on my ‘cross bike greater than ever, my journey time is right down to a fraction, and I’m loving life in my lovely forest!”
Brand is the defending Dutch ladies’s nationwide cyclo-cross champion however may decide out of a title defence in favour of a coaching camp alongside the highway squad. With the World Cup spherical in Benidorm arriving in simply two weeks’ time, Brand is amongst the riders who could elect to skip the nationwide championships and keep in Spain for Lidl-Trek’s coaching camp in Denia.
“I’m going to Spain anyway,” Brand added. “I’ll sleep once more first, but it surely’s actually doable that I simply keep there.”
