Brand surprises everyone, especially herself with a strong return to cyclocross: "I had a tough time mentally"

In the parking area set up by the organizers for team buses and campers, we asked Brand, just back from her scouting, if she had time for an interview with IDLProCycling.com. The South Holland native from Baloise Trek Lions was amenable, so an "extensive comeback interview" was secured. To say that Brand has been through a lot in recent months is an understatement...

"It feels really good to be at a cyclo-cross race again. I do feel some healthy tension, but it's mostly fun and I'm really looking forward to it," says a broadly smiling Brand, looking ahead to her first cross of the season. And that tension was evident. "You've worked hard and you don't know exactly where you stand, while all the others have a bit of an idea of where they are. They've already gained quite a bit of rhythm. I'm coming in at a pretty strange time."

Brand made her comeback, but found it difficult to really know where she stood in terms of form. In this context, she had not set any expectations for herself in the muddy affair of Dendermonde, where she had previously triumphed in 2020 and 2021. "This race is an opportunity for me to gauge my current form and see how I fare. Based on this race, we can then make a plan and see what's next," she humbly remarks. Even if things were to go well in Dendermonde (and they did), Brand preferred not to get ahead of herself regarding subsequent events. "It's challenging to make any definite statements at this point," she explained, highlighting the complexity of her situation.

What exactly happened? During the penultimate stage of the Simac Ladies Tour, Brand fell and injured her AC joint in the shoulder, leading to a lengthy recovery process of approximately two months. "Indeed, I was out for a good two months," she confirms to this website. "I can't remember the last time I didn't have any races. Being out for two months felt exceptionally long for me. Although training continuously for two months is not always enjoyable, it's part of the recovery process. However, I could barely train for half of that time. This significantly altered my preparation, making it very brief. As a result, I was starting from a lower fitness level," she explained, setting modest expectations for her performance in Dendermonde.

During her recovery, she was unable to train for about half of the two months. "In the early stages of my training, the focus was solely on rebuilding my physical condition, essentially getting back to basics. Due to my shoulder injury, I couldn't go out into the woods. The only off-road biking I could manage was gentle gravel riding on simple, unpaved paths. It was too soon for me to navigate challenging trails," she reminisced with a smile. "Gradually, I began to include interval training in my routine. Saying that I have been doing interval training for two weeks now is probably overselling it. Two weeks of focused training is not a substantial amount of time." Nevertheless, Brand felt she had made considerable improvements in those two weeks. "Although I started from a low baseline, the initial stages of training often yield significant progress."

Regarding her recovery progress, Brand openly admitted she felt significantly behind. "Yes, I did feel quite behind. After the Tour de France, I had a scheduled surgery, followed by a planned rest and recovery phase. But my fall disrupted this plan, and I ended up dropping out at a level lower than my usual standard. This made my comeback even more challenging." She also highlighted the mental challenges of her journey, which were sometimes great than the physical aspect. "The initial phase was particularly tough. I was mentally prepared for the first surgery, understanding its necessity. Taking a break is essential before shifting focus to the next challenge. However, the need for the unplanned surgery was a substantial disappointment," she shared, reflecting on her mental and physical journey through recovery.

Fortunately for Brand, she says she can relatively quickly overcome disappointments. "But in the first weeks, it was all about resting and giving it time to heal, period. You feel all sorts of things and have no idea if it's normal. Besides, I really couldn't do anything else. You just rest and are in the dark about everything else. That's so difficult, lacking perspective. Initially, you realize you can't do certain things and a week later, you find your situation unchanged. The lack of progress can weigh on your mind and be quite difficult to handle. From the moment I could start doing things again and regularly visited the physiotherapist, I began to feel better. But I've never really had such a period of uncertainty. For example, last year I broke my hand, but then I quickly thought: okay, I can train with it to improve and regain functionality. But the difference with this injury was that I simply couldn't do any of those things in the first weeks."

Before the cyclo-cross season began, Brand had set specific goals for herself. However, following her recovery, achieving these goals took on a new level of difficulty. Determining what would constitute a successful winter season is complex for Brand. "Before the cyclo-cross season, when I was uninjured, my goal was definitely to be competitive with Fem van Empel, Puck Pieterse, and Shirin van Anrooij. I had struggled to keep up with them last year and felt I couldn't reach my previous year's level. My objective for the upcoming winter was to regain that level of performance. That still is my goal, though circumstances have changed so much that I now need to assess whether it's achievable in the early races. My hope is to make as much progress as possible throughout the season, which would mark it as successful."

About three hours after the initial interview, we had another chance to talk with Brand, not at her camper but in the mixed zone, where the day's top three cyclists answer questions from the cycling media. Brand, who had an incredibly fast start and finished second, shared her surprise. "It's quite unexpected. I wasn't sure of my form and how it would turn out. Some of the riders had competed in a demanding race the day before. The conditions in Dendermonde were also exceptionally tough, so I'm thrilled with my second-place finish," she shared with IDLProCycling.com post-race. "I had a very good start, maybe even too much so. Then I thought I was going to slowly die, I had trouble finding my rhythm and it was super tough. But that's part of the first time, and I kept going."

"After the first round, I really had to figure things out" she continues with her analysis of the day. "I started off so quickly that I found myself unexpectedly far ahead. Then I knew I had to restrain myself a bit, though in thick mud like this, maintaining speed if you have it is usually better. Eventually, Ceylin passed me very quickly. She was quite fast," she winks. "I tried to keep up, of course. It's just that the pace was a bit too high for me. So, I had to be careful not to exceed my limit and hit the wall. Otherwise, I would have fallen far back. It almost happened, but in the end, I managed to hold on. Overall, I think I paced the race well."

"You don't know where you are in terms of form and you finish on an impressive second place in your comeback race. Hats off," was the frequent sentiment in the vicinity of Antwerp. And she achieved that second place precisely in the cross that she had won in 2020 and 2021 - the only two previous editions she had participated in. "I have good memories of this cross. I can really use my strength here, so it suits me well. That was evident today. This of course gives my confidence a big boost, but there is obviously also plenty of work to be done. After all, I finish almost one minute behind Ceylin. That's quite a gap. The start is certainly very promising and I have a better idea of where I stand, but there are still things here and there that need to be refined," Brand concludes with a critical note. But someone who makes such a strong return after a comeback process is always to be noted as a formidable contender to watch in upcoming races. Good luck, Lucinda!