“Puck came on strongly towards the end” – Lucinda Brand holds off Pieterse fightback as rival rues “I ruined it for myself”

Lucinda Brand summed up her latest victory at the GP Sven Nys Baal in typically understated fashion, describing a race defined by restraint rather than aggression.

“It’s always tough here, so that does weigh on you,” Brand said in quotes collected by Sporza after the finish.

“Maybe the competition needed more time to grow into the race. Puck came on strongly towards the end. I rode a tempo that I could sustain.”

That approach shaped the race from the opening lap. Brand moved to the front early and quickly established a decisive advantage, but there was little sense of forcing the issue. Instead, she settled into a rhythm that allowed her to manage both the course and the gaps behind without overreaching.

For Puck Pieterse, the race hinged on a single moment early on. “I actually got away well,” she explained. “Then we came to the steps. They weren’t fully covered, so I stepped onto slippery wood and slid away. That meant I had to chase immediately.”

That slip proved costly. “I saw that Lucinda, together with Zoe and Jolanda, already had a gap,” Pieterse said. “For myself, I ruined it there. I tried to get back into my own rhythm quickly, but I never got back into the race.”

Despite the setback, Pieterse did not give up hope of a turnaround. “Of course I hoped I could come back,” she added. “I knew she would have to make a mistake at some point, but that didn’t happen.”

In the end, the contrast was clear. Brand rode within herself and dictated the race on her terms, while Pieterse was left managing the consequences of a single early error. At Baal, control trumped risk – and Brand never gave her rival the opening she needed.