“I still can’t get used to this” – Lucinda Brand continues her winter of dominance with Boxing Day Gavere win
Cyclocross
Lucinda Brand admitted she needed time and multiple adjustments to unlock her winning ride at the UCI Cyclocross World Cup Gavere, after sealing another dominant victory on one of the season’s most demanding courses.
“I still can’t get used to this,” Brand said after the finish in quotes collected by Sporza. “I’d had some input from the men, but I thought it would work on the tyres I started on. I just couldn’t find grip. So I changed tyre profile, but I still wasn’t happy, so I changed again. Then I slowly grew into it, although I also had to grow into the race itself. If I just keep focusing on riding good races and staying fit, a nice classification will come.”
Brand’s comments reflected the early uncertainty that preceded her decisive move, with two bike changes proving crucial before she began to ride clear of the field and steadily extend her advantage.
Behind her, Amandine Fouquenet continued her strong recent form by finishing second, following up her victory in Zolder with another podium result. The French rider described a race ridden without pressure, despite a sustained battle for position. “I feel good,” Fouquenet said. “I can ride without pressure. I’m happy with my win in Zolder and now also with this second place. It was a hard fight with Pieterse, but I felt good on the heavy sections.”
Fouquenet established herself as Brand’s closest challenger in the second half of the race, ultimately securing second place as the gaps stabilised in the closing laps.
Pieterse: “I’m happy to be on the podium"
Puck Pieterse completed the podium after a difficult and error strewn race shaped by changing conditions. She confirmed that tyre choice became a major factor even before the start.
“I’m happy to be on the podium,” Pieterse said. “It wasn’t easy. Before the start we were already talking among ourselves because it had become more slippery. In the first corner I already noticed I had very little grip. I managed to ride like that for quite a long time, but halfway through I crashed and then switched to a coarser profile on the front.”
With all three riders pointing to grip and tyre choice as decisive factors, Gavere once again underlined its reputation as a course where adaptation matters as much as raw power.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
claps 2visitors 2
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
- More to the point, it isn't his remaining goal.Renz08-11-2026
- lol yeahmij08-11-2026
- I know, their headlines can be so misleading. Pidcock had a great season with 5 wins. and some solid 2nds. no reason to take away from that with a fake headline.mij08-11-2026
- You can clearly see the the posture change from slightly sitting to again out of the saddle while changing of gears in the video of the sprintabstractengineer08-11-2026
- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
Loading
1 Comments