Zoe Bäckstedt 'back on track' with Dendermonde World Cup whilst Pick Pieterse laments loss to Brand after being 'a bit boxed in'

The Dendermonde World Cup has seen plenty stories in the women's race: From the dominant win of Lucinda Brand; Puck Pieterse's battle to win her first race in the winter; and under-23 World Champion Zoe Bäckstedt who has begun her campaign here after an injury-ridden few months.

The British talent raced in Dendermonde for the first time this cyclocross season, after having suffered a hand and wrist fracture after a crashing which happened in the beginning of the winter.

"Everything you normally do in a few months, we now have to do in two weeks. Even for a super talent like Zoe, it's impossible to reach a good level right away," her coach Geert Wellens told Wielerflits. Hence a schedule was made starting out during the Christmas block, in which she 27th, 3:45 minutes away from Lucinda Brand.

"The result in Dendermonde speaks volumes. Mentally, we need to get back on track. I could have seen it coming, given the preparation. You can keep postponing the start of the season, but we had to start somewhere." The Briton is aiming to be able to obtain good form and most of all technique over the coming month, with several races on her schedule, ahead of the World Championships. But results are no longer the priority, as the road season also looms closer and closer.

"We have to hold on to the good start we had in Dendermonde. Then it's a matter of finding the right feeling and technical skills. Step by step, I would say. We can't look at her situation the same way we did last year. We were perhaps a bit spoiled then. Zoe has never had so much bad luck as she did now, and she'll have to learn to accept that too. That's part of her growth as a rider."

The two-time under-23 rainbow jersey now has a choice between trying for a fourth or racing with the elites, where she will be full-time from next season onwards. But the elites seems to be the pre-planned choice: "We have to be realistic now. I would be very happy if she still made it to the World Championships in Hulst and competed 'among the people' there. But we really can't expect a result. Even a top 10 is far too ambitious if she were to compete with the pros."

In the head of the race, Puck Pieterse, who returned to racing two weeks ago, wanted to capture her first win in the dry course. However by the time she got to the front of the race, her compatriot Brand was already far gone.

"I was a bit boxed in at the start, and I was hoping they would slow down a bit on the asphalt toward the finish so I could close the gap," Pieterse said in the flash interview. "However, Lucinda attacked at that moment because she saw me coming, so I had to chase again. I never really closed that gap."

Pieterse finished the race in second place, confirming her current great form. But she hasn't been able to win yet with her Dutch national champion's jersey. And the risk that she will not grows by the race, as Brand shows no signs of slowing down.

"I told my mother before the start that even five seconds on this lap would be a lot. So if I was in such a gap, she definitely shouldn't be yelling at me to go for it, because that's a big gap on this course. I rode for second place."

However, the Fenix-Deceuninck rider is ultimately aiming for the World Championships, and a potential first rainbow jersey.