Of the entire cyclocross day in Zonhoven, there is one moment that keeps circulating extensively on social media. Naturally, it is about the crash involving Puck Pieterse, Lucinda Brand, and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado in the Kuil.
Already at the very first passage through the famous sand descent, things went wrong, initially only for Pieterse. "And because she fell, I had to take a slightly different line," Brand explained to us afterward. "I thought: I have enough speed. But suddenly my front wheel grabbed. At first, my body could absorb the shock, but if your weight shifts too far forward, you do a hard somersault."
Only the eventual winner, Alvarado, seemed to escape: "I thought so too," she laughed for our camera. "But because Lucinda’s bike actually flew a bit into the air and landed elsewhere, that blocked my path. I couldn't get past. I had to try to brake, but there was no way to brake. That caused me to fall as well."
The three leaders, all three going down, have meanwhile generated numerous views on Instagram. The clip is going fully viral, and the three main protagonists gladly add their own spin. "I told you I was ready to dive," Pieterse laughs. To which Alvarado responds with a laughing "I'm cracking up."
The most beautiful Instagram post comes from Lucinda Brand, who lost a cyclocross race in Zonhoven for the first time since the European Championships in November. "If Zonhoven were a Tinder bio, it would say 'It's complicated.' And yet I keep swiping right. Zonhoven, you’re still my ultimate crush, because you can break my nose, but not my heart," she writes wryly.
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