Busy period should suit injured Brand ("heading to the physio soon"): "I also enjoy competing in stage races"

"I think that suits me," Brand said convincingly to IDLProCycling.com after the race in Hulst. "I also like to compete in stage races. If the other riders also race as much as possible, the playing field remains level, which should suit me."

Brand has a second home in Belgium and her home in Dordrecht. "I spend the whole winter in Belgium," the Dutch rider told the podcast Kopstart. "Especially in this period. That saves a lot of travel time. I have much more rest in between, especially in my bed."

Brand did not start the first race of the triptych without a scratch. Already in the recon, the 35-year-old crashed. "I crashed pretty hard on the famous descent. So I'll go to the physio later." The World Cup leader was not bothered by her crash during the race, she told afterward. "It was annoying, especially for that other rider, who also crashed. But it was also the line that I relied on. And now I had to take the line on which I had crashed. So that was mentally tough."

Still, with a second place behind winner Marie Schreiber, Brand fared well in the World Cup ranking. "Yes, reasonably," said Brand herself, somewhat disappointed. "It wasn't a super neat race—a lot of slides. I was never really in the flow. I just couldn't do my thing. But in the end, I finished second, which is good."