A broken nose from a crash at the Zonhoven World Cup did not stop Lucinda Brand from winning her third national cyclocross championship this weekend.

The Valoise Trek Lions rider is scheduled to show off the 2024 Dutch National Champion jersey for the first time at the Benidorm World Cup on January 21.

Brand was in the lead at the Sonnenhoffen World Cup on January 7 when he crashed violently at speed and broke his nose, forcing him to abandon the race.

The 34-year-old told reporters that she is ready to train normally and fight again until she wins a national title.

According to "In De Leiderstrui," she said, "Last week was a bit of a shock, so the national title is a very nice reward."

"Fortunately, I didn't have any breathing problems. But Tuesday's training went the way I wanted it to, and I felt good."

"I've been working out a lot," she said.

Brand said that, with the exception of Monday, when he had a medical checkup, his schedule was the same as usual and that his recent good form left no doubt about his underlying condition. In Zonhofen, he appeared to be well on his way to his third World Cup win of the season until a crash occurred.

"I took X-rays. If I need surgery, I need it in the first ten days," she said. Brand explained that if she did not have surgery and made the mistake of re-fixing her nose, she would need surgery anyway and would have to miss three weeks of racing afterwards. Despite the crash, she has had no headaches so far and can still blow her nose.

"I was afraid of getting mud in my eye, but I had a bad start [in the All-Japan race] so it was no problem," she laughed. It will take six weeks to fully heal, but I can still race," she said.