Lucinda Brand sidelined with an injury from Simac Ladies Tour

Lucinda Brand will not immediately go into the field after the road race season. The 34-year-old Dutch woman from Lidl-Trek reported this via Instagram. Brand is still recovering from an operation she underwent after a fall in the Simac Ladies Tour.

The former cyclo-cross world champion fell during the penultimate stage of the Belgian-Dutch stage race and suffered an injury to the AC joint in the shoulder. On Monday she underwent surgery on the joint in Herentals hospital. "Despite the bad night, I am doing well, but it is an injury that takes time," Brand wrote. "Mentally it is difficult to be on the sidelines again. I was really looking forward to starting the cyclocross season and getting back to my form from two seasons ago."

Brand is referring to the cross-winter of a year ago, which was also partially canceled due to a crash. After a good start to the season, she broke a metatarsal bone in her hand while exploring the course in Tabor. She returned to the field fairly quickly, but turned out to be riding around for weeks with pieces of stitches in her hand, which caused her to continue to suffer. Only in the last weeks of the previous cross-season did we see the old Brand again.

The Dutch cyclist does not yet want to set a date on which her cyclo-cross season can start. "I'm focusing on my recovery for the time being and getting back into good shape as quickly as possible." Finally, she thanks the medical team in Herentals and the many uplifting messages from fans she has received recently.