Race Ramblings: Brand is En Fuego at Superprestige Boom

Brand wins her fourth straight, and Honsinger and Rochette shine at Superprestige Boom.

Each weekend, when we feel like we have something interesting to say, the CXHairs Bulletin will be providing paid subscribers with our thoughts on one or more of the weekend’s races. With Lucinda Brand the talk of the cyclocross world right now, it only made sense to kick off the series with a closer look at the Elite Women’s contest in Boom. 

It’s pretty wild to me that just one month ago I started an unfinished blog post about Ceylin Alvarado and Annemarie Worst being the best thing going in cyclocross. Alvarado is still racing well, but Lucinda Brand has replaced Worst, and most likely, risen above Alvarado in the Elite Women’s field (TBD in the Topper Chart coming next week).

With her win on Sunday at Superprestige Boom, Brand is still on fire, raining threes through the still torched nets, as she continues her midseason run of dominance (see Friday’s weekend preview for the obligatory NBA Jam reference). With Brand winning in impressive fashion for two straight weekends, one might be tempted to argue that she is the WOMAN TO BEAT for the 2021 World Championships, but before making such bold claims, a moment of caution is likely warranted. 

Last season, Brand won Kortrijk, finished second at Druivencross, and then won Namur and Zolder before DNFing at Azencross and ceding the reins of the women’s ‘cross season to Alvardo. The year before that, Brand went 2-1-2-1-2-1-1-1-1 from the beginning of December through Bogense Worlds where she finished second.  

We have seen Brand catch fire in the late-November / December stretch before, but as we established in our look at the broader arc of Brand’s career, history suggests she will come up just short at Worlds, and thus the burden of proof is on her to show she can WIN THE BIG ONE.

We might be tentative to declare Brand the favorite for Worlds, but there is a strong argument that right now, she is racing cyclocross better than Alvarado. In her win at Merksplas, Brand won a tough, drag-out fight against Alvarado. At Kortrijk, she used her power to overwhelm Denise Betsema in the final sprint. But at Tabor and Sunday at Boom, she just flat out beat Alvarado. 

As I have mentioned from the start of the season on the Media Pit podcast, I think Brand is the rider Alvarado fears the most, and on Sunday we again saw why that is the case. With the lead selection already down to three in the second lap, Alvarado got a gap and then rode with it when Brand had to dab at the bottom of a slick descent that gave riders (*cough cough* Wout) trouble throughout the afternoon. Just as she did when she got a gap at Merksplas, Alvarado attacked. 

Alvarado got an 8-second lead at the end of that 2nd lap, but then Brand kept it right around that 5-6 second mark. As usual, the Dutch Lion didn’t panic, she just rode hard and kept the pressure on Alvarado by staying just close enough to make things uncomfortable for the World Champ riding at the front. 

If we have seen cracks in Alvarado’s rainbow-striped armor this season, there is an argument to be made it has been on the climbier courses such as the one at Boom. At Beringen she finished second, but 54 seconds down. At Koppenberg, she finished almost 2 minutes behind Worst, and at the deceptively uphill World Cup Tabor, she finished 24 seconds down to Brand. 

On Sunday, Alvarado only finished 10 seconds behind Brand, but it was on the steep climbs up the side of the De Schorre amphitheater that Brand really made a difference. In the 4th lap, Brand seemingly came out of nowhere to close Alvarado’s lead on the first steep climb after the cobbled section. Then in the penultimate lap, after the already infamous botched bike exchange, Brand again exploded up the steep, muddy climb to get what would be a decisive and winning gap. 

Scheldecross Antwerp has historically been a sandier, flatter race, while Sunday’s Superprestige Gavere should have some climbing in store for the riders. It will be interesting to see if Brand can continue to stay en fuego, but I will also be keeping my eye on how the two women at the top of the cyclocross game compete on the respective courses. 

North American Represents

North American cyclocross fans got the chance to see their two national champs shine on Sunday. Maghalie Rochette got off to a great start representing our friends north of the border and rode strong throughout to finish 7th. Clara Honsinger, repping her Stars-and-Stripes kit, got stronger throughout the race, as she has been known to do, and moved up from 16th after the first lap to 6th by the end of the race. 

Now four races into her cyclocross season, Honsinger has shown improvement in her results the last two weekends. She finished 10th last weekend at Kortrijk and now moved up to 6th at Boom. Honsinger’s 6th at Boom matches her impressive 6th-place finish last year at Namur, and although Boom was not as treacherous as the famed course at the Citadel of Namur, it does suggest Honsinger has achieved a certain level of comfort on the climby, technical courses. 

Rochette’s ride was her best result since Superprestige Ruddervoorde. After finishing just outside the top 10 at both Merksplas and Tabor, Rochette broke through with a strong ride from start to finish at Boom. She survived the blistering first lap pace before moving up to 7th and staying there for the rest of the 6-lap affair. 

If you missed it, check out results and lap times, which the CXHairs Bulletin will be delivering to paid subscribers for the rest of the cyclocross season. 

Featured image: Yefrifotos.fr