Fired-up Brand punishes Van Empel’s mistakes in Dublin

Lucinda Brand won the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup race in Dublin, just as she did last year. The Dutch champion punished a mistake by Fem van Empel in the sandpit and after that rode solo for more than half the race.

Zoe Bäckstedt (Canyon//SRAM Racing) had the best start on Irish soil. With Marie Schreiber (Team SD Worx - Protime), Fem van Empel (Team Visma | Lease a Bike Women) and the entire peloton on her tail, the British rider was first into the field. Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) had to put her foot down on one of the first corners and was thus immediately forced to chase.

Fem van Empel launched her first attack about five minutes into the race. Brand, who had quickly made up ground after her mistake, saw the danger and immediately reeled in the world champion. Entering the second lap, Brand noticed that Van Empel’s rear tyre was punctured. That was the signal for the Dutch champion to ramp up the pace again and put the world champion at a disadvantage.

At the end of the second lap, Brand rode off alone. Fem van Empel did not have an easy time catching the chasers after her puncture. Half a lap later, she finally found her rhythm. The world champion broke away from her fellow chasers and quickly caught up with Brand. Her moment of pleasure was short-lived, however, as she erred again in the sandpit. Van Empel now faced a second chase after the fired-up Lucinda Brand. At the end of the third lap, the difference between the two was 13 seconds.

Little by little, Brand pulled away from Van Empel and the world champion’s resolve started to waver. As she lost ground, the realisation grew that she would not catch the leader. Halfway through the penultimate lap, she seemed to throw in the towel. By then, the gap had grown to half a minute. Brand thus won in Dublin for the second year in a row. Fem van Empel had to be satisfied with second place. Zoe Bäckstedt beat Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) for place three.