"I don't know why people come to the cross in such weather" - Lucinda Brand continues recent hotstreak in Dendermonde but casts doubt on Dutch National Championships
Cyclocross
For the second time in as many days, Lucinda Brand has added another victory to her palmares, triumphing a brutally muddy World Cup Dendermonde to increase her overall World Cup standings lead.
After allowing Puck Pieterse to do all the leading early on, Brand caught her younger compatriot on lap 3 and then surged clear on lap 4. Despite Pieterse and Fem van Empel giving their all in chase, there was no catching the powerful Brand who made the mudfest look simple to added victory in Dendermonde to her success in Gullegem from the day prior. "It was super tough today. I don't know why people come to the cross in such weather, but the encouragement helped me enormously," Brand reflected in her post-race interview afterwards.
Despite her victory and good form though, Brand isn't sure she'll return to the Dutch national championships in order to defend her title. "In any case, I'm leaving for a training camp in Spain. The National Championship? I'll sleep on it," she concludes.
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| 01 | Brand Lucinda | - | 55:08 |
| 02 | Pieterse Puck | - | + 30 |
| 03 | van Empel Fem | - | + 41 |
| 04 | Bakker Manon | - | + 01:26 |
| 05 | Backstedt Zoe | - | + 01:49 |
| 06 | van der Heijden Inge | - | + 02:26 |
| 07 | Bentveld Leonie | - | + 02:36 |
| 08 | Norbert Riberolle Marion | - | + 03:09 |
| 09 | Cant Sanne | - | + 03:11 |
| 10 | Betsema Denise | - | + 03:13 |
| 11 | Vas Blanka | - | + 04:43 |
| 12 | Schreiber Marie | - | + 04:46 |
| 13 | Fouquenet Amandine | - | + 04:48 |
| 14 | van Alphen Aniek | - | + 04:34 |
| 15 | Mani Caroline | - | + 05:47 |
| 16 | Wolff Imogen | - | + 06:06 |
| 17 | Brouwers Julie | - | + 06:25 |
| 18 | Crees Xan | - | + 07:04 |
| 19 | Peeters Jinse | - | + 07:29 |
| 20 | De Beer Jamie | - | + 07:31 |
| 21 | Valade Alexandra | - | + 07:40 |
| 22 | Van Sinaey Xaydee | - | + 08:34 |
| 23 | Van De Steene Kim | - | + 08:44 |
| 24 | Crabbe Kiona | - | + 08:50 |
| 25 | Vervloet Sterre | - | + 09:14 |
| 26 | Baroni Francesca | - | + 09:25 |
Lucinda Brand wins in Dendermonde 🥇
— UCI Cyclocross (@UCI_CX) January 5, 2025
✔️ Solo win in tough muddy conditions
✔️ Extends her overall @UCIcyclocrossWC lead
✔️ Yet to be off the podium this season
📸 @gaetan_sportpic #CXWorldCup #FLCS pic.twitter.com/vaX6qFwyoi
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- he can do what he wants, and if he can state his feelings, so can I. and my feeling is, it is fun to see the best riders in the biggest race. there are always stages to go after. and racing is more fun with an MVDP to cheer for. and to the point of the other guy, he raced 7 races prior. he will do 11 or so cross races. yes he races to win, but as a fan I would really love to see him in the race. I'm being greedy admittedly. to the point of vappaxbipmv, he isn't exactly racing his legs off with the races he has been doing.mij07-01-2025
- Well not his last year, but my argument is he can't he win the Tour. Remember this thread during the upcoming Tour, btw, I do admire Primoz.awp07-01-2025
- He did a convincing display at Ancares doing peak numbers even without optimal preparation in a team that is weaker in grand tours. Sure he's getting older but the narrative that he's in his last year is ridiculous.alsene07-01-2025
- He is not anti-doping. He is pro-whining. He is more than happy to cheer for the dopers he likes and believe in the miracles he likes.
MarkFour06-01-2025 - Froome has found a genuine way to race slow .. no further gears restrictions needed for him. And speaking about safety - this overnight packfodder to GT winner should start with holding the tt bars while descending with both hands. What a clown!!
UltimateOpportunist06-01-2025 - Nice, yeah, if you’re around a 6-7% gradient when they attack you’re not going to see much, it’s not for nothing the steepest sections are so crowded. If on TV you see an overweight fan running along for more than 30m you know they’re nowhere near that speed there;-)Mistermaumau06-01-2025
- Merry Crossmas to you tooMistermaumau06-01-2025
- I respect his anti-doping stance but in trying to rehash everything he’s no longer looking at the changes. It’ not just one or two riders who suddenly improved, the whole peleton has gone through an upgrade. For sure there are still cheaters, may e even amongst the very best but a large part of the improvement is generic and explainable. Even racing itself has changed. There is progress in EVERY sport, constantly, why would cycling be the odd one out?Mistermaumau06-01-2025
- Don’t doubt your cynical side ;-) It’s hardly likely to be true either and he is hardly in a position to judge for others who is best this or that. If he’d just said, he was always good to ME that would have been more truthful and then everyone could draw their own conclusion, now he’s basically shot himself in the foot for nothing (as far as we know).Mistermaumau06-01-2025
- He's the best teammate with Domen Novak cruising Pogi to become Cycling World Champion.
James2631806-01-2025