There is no euphoria now': Lucinda Brand sets record straight after the European Cyclocross Championships

In the finish zone, it was clear that Schreiber made a small deviation causing Brand to hold back for just a moment during the final sprint.The experienced Dutch rider, however—as always—was a good sport and didn’t dwell on it for a second. In fact, she was the first to hug Schreiber. No hard feelings, no complaints—just on to the next one.

Little did she know that her next stop would be the judges’ car, where she was informed of the decision to disqualify Schreiber. There’s nothing to be said against that—not even for Brand, who did try, knowingly and willingly, to argue against it. And so the Dutch athlete found herself on a podium without a second-place finisher and with a third-place finisher, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, groaning in pain.

"It's a new title, but it's definitely the strangest one I've ever won," she said during the flash interview, before going on to tell her story in detail in Dutch. "This is, of course, a very strange feeling."

Brand left no doubt about her position in the judging competition. “Look, I didn’t ask for a review or anything. I already had the feeling myself that I just didn’t have quite enough speed to make it over. Gerben asked me about it, and I said, ‘Yeah, we don’t need to ask for that footage again.’”

"It's okay with me—she was the best; she was really good on the stairs," Brand continues. “And I just wasn’t fast enough, and I also knew it would be really tough if it came down to a sprint. Ultimately, well, the jury will decide for themselves whether to review it a hundred times. I told them this myself, and of course it’s up to the jury to decide what to do with it from here.”

"I understand that this is heartbreaking for Marie. It’s just tough, of course, when you think you’ve won the title and then it’s decided that it’s not going to happen," she says, putting herself in the Luxembourger's shoes. “I also understand her disappointment—that she doesn’t want to go on stage. I, too, feel differently about this than I do about the other titles I’ve won.”

Brand describes in detail what went on inside the judges’ car. “I gave my opinion, and then it was up to the jury to factor that into their decision. I also had Marie speak in French, because that allowed her to better explain her feelings. I’ve never experienced anything like this before. Normally there’s euphoria, but there isn’t any now.”