🎥 Drama for Brand in Zonhoven: Great fear of broken nose after hard fall while leading the race

Lucinda Brand seemed to have the race in the bag at the World Cup in Zonhoven on Sunday, but then the unthinkable happened. The 34-year-old Lidl-Trek rider was in the midst of a long solo run and seemed to be able to finish it easily, until a heavy fall put an end to that. IDLProCycling.com immediately got a reaction.

In a relatively simple corner, Brand's front wheel slipped away, and she landed hard on the ground with her nose. The Dutchwoman did not seem to make an effort to restart, immediately grabbed her nose and stepped off the bike with tears in her eyes.

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Sven Nys fears Brand's nose is broken

There was immediately a lot of blood involved, and the former world champion arrived at the Baloise Trek Lions team bus with two cotton swabs up her nose, which was quite blue. There, both a soigneur and team boss Sven Nys told this website that Brand had fallen hard on her nose, she had a small wound in her nose, and thus needed a check from the doctor. "We immediately saw a lot of blood, and Brand had her nose operated on after the Tour de France because she constantly felt she couldn't breathe properly," says team manager Nys in an initial reaction.

"That's something congenital, and the correction happened a few months ago, but because of that, she's now very vulnerable, and then she falls, so I think it's broken again," he continues. "You can see and feel a kink in the nose, and it's also crooked, so we need to go to the hospital as soon as possible to get x-rays. We already lost Shirin (van Anrooij, ed.) because of a broken rib, and Lucinda was riding fantastically. We don't know how long we're going to be without her, because it's obviously not about her legs. We're waiting for the next few hours and days."

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Too much swelling for hospital check

An hour later, the team doctor also came with a statement. He said that Brand would not go to the hospital after all, because the swelling on her nose was still too severe, and therefore she needed to apply as much ice to her nose as possible. Other than that, there were no problems, according to the team doctor of Baloise Trek Lions. Whether her nose is actually broken - and her National Championship is therefore at risk - has not yet been officially confirmed.

Via her social channels, Brand also reacted to the crash herself. "Wow, that hurts. What a race, until I hit the ground... We now need to have a scan made, to determine the next steps in the process. Thanks for all the kind messages, I promise that I will keep fighting."