Introducing Lucinda Brand - The conqueror of 2020's cyclocross

Lucinda Brand is a Dutch Cyclocross and Road cyclist. She is currently part of the Trek - Segafredo team, and in Cyclocross she rides for the sister team of Baloise - Trek Lions, and has become one of Cyclocross' most successful riders specially in the early 2020's as she has won all World Cup, Superprestige and X20 Badkamers Cups in both 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons, with World, European and Dutch titles included in her extensive palmarès. You can check out her biography at all times by clicking here.

Name: Lucinda Brand
Born: 2 July 1989
Birthplace: Dordrecht, Netherlands
Turned Pro: 2009
Height: 1.68m

Lucinda Brand was born in the Netherlands, more specifically in Dordrecht on the 2nd of July 1989. Over the year she has became one of the most successful female cyclists in modern cycling, as she continuously builds up an impressive palmarès in Cyclocross, whilst simultaneously combining it with a career on the road where she has also taken wins at some major events.

As a young rider, Brand made her debut in the pro peloton in 2009 back at the Leontien.nl team, where she has spent her first four seasons as a pro and has begun showing her talent, specifically in the hilly races. Her first pro win came at the 2012 Tour Féminin en Limousin, and shortly after she's also taken a win at the old La Route de France. A fourth position at that year's Flèche Wallone has also seen her attract attention of several top teams, and she was soon signed by the Rabobank - Liv Giant team, in 2013 - a contract that lasted all the way into 2016.

In one of the most successful teams in the World, Brand took her first big win at the 2013 national championships. 2014 saw her win the national Energiewacht Tour aswell as the GP de Plouay-Bretagne, despite her frequent role as a domestique for her teammates. In 2015 she would no longer be on this role however, as she sparked through the ranks to become a leader of her own. This season has seen her take four wins, and as her final road-prioritizing season, it may have been the best of her career.

Here she took wins at the national championships once again, and took wins at the Energiewacht Tour and two at the Giro d'Italia. Adding to this she's had several top-end results such as runner-up positions at the Sparkassen Giro and the Boels Rental Ladies Tour, and placed amongst the season's best. In 2016 she won the Ladies Tour of Norway alongside a few other wins, but has begun dedicating more of her preparation into the Cyclocross season.

From 2017 to 2019 she represented Team Sunweb where she became World Champion in the TTT, but has only taken 3 wins in her debut year, having consistent results, but not taking big wins. Those came after she signed with Trek - Segafredo in 2020. The 2021 season has seen her win the LOTTO Thüringen Ladies Tour and two stage wins, aswell as a stage at the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l'Ardèche. In 2022 she backed those results up by winning two stages and the overall classification at the mountainous Tour de Suisse.

Her main results however would be had in Cyclocross. Ever since the junior ranks Brand had taken part in the discipline, however only in the 2016-2017 season did she expand her calendar, taking her first win in the modest Kiremko Nacht van Woerden. She had finished second on Worlds, European and National Championships however, and in the following season she rode a reduced but successful season becoming national champion, and winning the Zilvermeercross Mol and the Waaslandcross Sint-Niklaas, whilst again featuring on the podiums of World and European Championships, alongside a Dutch title.

2018-2019 saw her take seven wins, three of them in World Cup events, and the national championships included. In the beginning of the 2019-2020 season she joined the Baloise - Trek Lions, team she represents to this day. Her first season was however still not featuring a full calendar, but it included five wins, with her World Cup tally rising with triumphs in Namur, Heusden-Zolder and Hoogerheide.

In the 2020-2021 season however everything would change, as she noted her talent was brighter off-road, and decided to dedicate herself to a full calendar. That year she won the UCI World Cup, Superprestige and X20 Badkamers, alongside her first World title which came in the Oostende circuit. It was a season where she raced on 28 occasions, won 12 of them and featured on the podium 26 times - a total of 93% of her races.

She backed that up by repeating the win on all three classifications and the European championships in 2021-2022. It was again an overwhelmingly successful season, with Brand winning 20 out of 33 races. 30 podiums followed. Brand has built one of the most impressive palmarès in Cyclocross history and became the main face of the women's side of it.

In the 2022-2023 season she has not been able to repeat her success thus far. She's won the early season Berencross, but as of mid-October she finished third and second respectively in the Waterloo and Fayetteville World Cup rounds.