Brand dominated the women’s event after nearest rival and world champion Fem van Empel suffered a puncture on the opening lap and then, after regaining contact with the leader, unclipped and lost more time in the sand section a few laps later.
The 35-year-old Dutch winner also overcame problems early on, having chosen a less grippy tyre for the dry but sticky conditions.
“Because it was less muddy, I chose a regular tyre so I had to be a little careful sometimes in the corners because it was slippery,” said the victorious Dutch woman afterwards. “The ground here really pulls you down, so if you ride with a mud tyre it’s even harder. The first lap I got a little bit stuck in the beginning and had to chase to move up a few places.”
A combination of Brand’s good form and a little misfortune for Van Empel saw the former open a gap at the front that would stretch to 24 seconds by the finish on the Sports Ireland Campus.
“I moved up quickly so I knew that I had good legs,” said Brand afterwards. “Then, when we finished the first lap, I saw Fem had a puncture and I got an advantage. She came back but, coming out of the sand, there was another little gap so I just kept on pushing and the gap grew. I don’t know if she had a problem with her bike because I wasn’t expecting to make the difference so quickly.”
Welsh woman Zoe Backstedt took third for the second year in a row.
On the podium after the men’s elite race were winner Michael Vanthourenhout of Belgium (centre), second-placed Toon Aerts of Belgium (left) and third-placed Felipe Orts Lloret of Spain. Photo: Sportsfile
The men’s race was also full of incidents, a huge pile-up on the opening lap – where the lead rider clipped a set of jumps as he tried to bunny-hop them, caused carnage, with European champion Thibau Nys forced to withdraw soon after having his ankle ridden over while he was on the ground.
Race winner Vanthourenhout avoided the crash but then broke his shoe when he clipped a pole going around a corner, forcing him to grab a new one in the pits mid-race.
“It was a little bit of a panic,” Vanthourenhout admitted afterwards. “It’s very difficult to ride with half a shoe so I thought that the race was over. After the change, I was back in sixth position, but my legs were good so I felt that I was going to fight for the win.”
Vantourenhout didn’t hit the front until the last quarter of the final lap, when teammate and Belgian champion Eli Iserbyt hit a pole on the uphill section. Vantourenhout sprinted home just one second clear of compatriot Toon Aerts and Spaniard Felipe Orts Lloret.
“Eli made a little mistake in the last lap, on the hilly part of the race. It was a bit of luck but if you are good you have luck on your side,” said Vanthourenhout.
“It was a tactical race, with five or six riders pretty close all the time so every second that I gained counted. I think I was the strongest rider. It’s always difficult to win but I made it.”
