Lucinda Brand has added to the chorus of rider discontent after UCI President David Lappartient raised the possibility of preventing riders from racing the Cyclo-cross World Championships if they skipped rounds World Cup rounds. The former World Champion has instead urged a more consultative approach.
“I understand what they want to achieve, but I think it is a bit short-sighted,” Brand said in a report from Nieuwsblad. “In my opinion, they should talk to us about how we envision this.
"You can try to shove something right down our throats, but that won't work. Then you get more resistance and I don't think that is beneficial.”
Lappartient's comments to DirectVelo last week that "it's not a competition in which you can pick and choose as you please" have raised considerable consternation, with a number of riders and teams objecting to the criticism of riders who miss events in the series, which has now grown to 14 races.
Lappartient's comments were made after Thibau Nys raced the Superprestige in Niel, Belgium on Saturday but skipped the World Cup in Dendermonde, Netherlands on Sunday opting to stay at home in Belgium as he celebrated his 21st birthday.
Dendermonde was Brand's first race back for the season, the rider having missed the first was racing her second World Cup on Sunday after having missed the first two rounds after crashing on the road in the Simac Ladies Tour and injuring her shoulder, which required surgery.
Brand – who won the 2021 Cyclo-cross World Championships and also the World Cup series for two seasons running in 2020/21 and 2021/22 – has been quick to find her feet again. The Dutch rider quickly returned to the podium, taking second place at the Dendermonde World Cup.
"I had the best start of my life I think," said Brand on an Instagram video after the Dendermonde return. After that I kind of blew up ... fortunately I was able to find a rhythm.
"For now to come back like this makes me very happy."
Then the podiums continued through last weekend, with second at the Merksplas Superprestige race and third at the Troyes World Cup, as while the start wasn't strong this time Brand still battled back to third.
