Lucinda Brand dreaming of second Cyclocross World Championship title: "I’m closer at the moment than I was last year"
Cyclocross
Since making her cyclocross return in Dendermonde on the 12th of November, Lucinda Brand has acquitted herself extremely well, finishing on the podium of all five of the races she's ridden, winning one.
This form has given the 34-year-old hope of replicating her 2021 feat of winning the Cyclocross World Championships. “Of course that’s still in the mind to fight for,” she tells Velo from the UCI World Cup round in Dublin, in which Brand was victorious.
Defeating the likes of Annemarie Worst and Denise Betsema back in 2021, if Brand is to triumph this time, it will be against the next generation. “It is definitely not easy. They’re young, they’re talented, they have good technical capabilities," says Brand of stars such as Fem van Empel, Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Anrooij.
“To be honest I’ve been doubting a lot if I ever will be able to really fight with them [the younger rivals] again. It’s just hard. It also becomes a fight with yourself too. So yeah, there have been a lot of doubts. And I’m happy that I can put away the doubts at the moment,” she concludes. “If you look back to when I was last winning a cyclocross race, it’s quite a long time with some injuries in between. It’s great to be really back.”
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- The likelihood of RE improving enough at this point to outclass TP or JV is less than zero.verve82521-12-2024
- That’s the most stupid thing I’ve read for a long time, did you not go to school and learn even the most basic physics? Aero depends on one thing only, drag, drag depends speed and the relationship is squared and apart from maybe at zero or the speed of sound or due to side winds that relationship is valid at all speeds, it dies not “suddenly” start at a magic number. Very simply, the faster you go the more the effect becomes important. If you think 25km/h is needed to have noticeable effects you’re delusional, athletic WR are cancelled as soon as winds top 2m/s that’s 7.2km/h, why because the assistance is already too important at that speed and the times prove it. You don’t even consider wind which can significantly increase the effective speed for aerodynamics and you underestimate speed of climbs, 6% is ridden more at 30 than 25km/h, a speed at which early generation high rims were considered to have more advantages than disadvantages. And finally, as in normal races you can’t just switch bikes according to terrain, it’s pretty pointless to discuss climbs as a separate situation, the aero will have justified itself plenty during the rest of the ride.Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- If you look at how much TP progressed in that 1 1/2 years you can no longer say that’s nothing. If Remco improves as much he’s a challenger!Mistermaumau21-12-2024
- Froome wishing to ride the Vuelta...he won't even be selected for the team!frieders320-12-2024
- Keep telling yourself that Remco but you not only have Tadeg to beat but Jonas!frieders320-12-2024
- Seems farfetched - I agree. Mas has beaten him once. Giro d'Emillia I think - 2022mobk20-12-2024
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- Jonas', was 6 years agospock12320-12-2024