The elite women's start list for the UCI Cyclocross World Cup in Waterloo, Wisconsin, looks like a list of world rankings. Joining Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions), the current world number one and world cyclocross champion, for the opening round of 16 World Cup races will be the 10 riders who follow her in the UCI individual rankings.

Eleven of the world's best women cyclo-cross riders, plus Yolanda Neff (Trek Factory Racing), Olympic gold medalist in cross country, and Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma), seven-time cyclo-cross world champion and Olympic gold medalist on the road will take the start line at 12:30 local time.

Brand already has a win under her belt, having won the Superprestige Geerten in the Netherlands last weekend. She chose not to compete in the inaugural women's Paris-Roubaix on October 2, opting instead to focus on the upcoming cyclocross calendar.

"Last Sunday there were some riders, but of course not all of them. It's like everyone came to America to race," Brand said.

"There are riders here that I'm familiar with, but Kata Blanca Vas (Team SD Walks), who I raced against on Sunday, has had a great season on a mountain bike, but she jumped on a road bike. Of course, Marianne Vos had a great ride in Roubaix. These are the riders to watch this Sunday as well."

Brand will be competing in the North American cyclocross round for the first time and will also compete in the World Cup in Fayetteville, Arkansas on October 13 and Iowa City, Iowa on October 17. On the road, he has competed in the Amgen Tour of California in 2016 and 2017, and is eager to run a jam-packed week with three races.

"I'm very relaxed at the moment. Everyone knows each other. The weather is good, the track is set up well. There is a good atmosphere. It's not just about being fast and getting results, it's about enjoying the bike.

"The races are very important and it's easy because you don't have to do much between races. You just recover and get ready for the next race. I just want to have fun and enjoy it. Obviously, I'm focused on having a good race, but especially here [at Trek headquarters], I want to show off the world jersey, the rainbow stripes. Especially here (at Trek headquarters). This race is probably the most important, and we're also scouting for the World Championships (in Fayetteville) on Wednesday.

"It's a dream to wear this jersey. It's been a dream to wear this jersey. There was a lot of pressure. The whole season was going really well and everyone's eyes were on me. It was such a relief to finally get it all."

This season, she completed 43 race days on the road and took a rest after the Giro d'Italia Donne (10 days) in July, where she won the mountains prize. This rest was a chance to finally train for the cross season.

"After the Giro, I was already thinking about the cyclo-cross season. I tried to train for cyclo-cross in Belgium. But then I participated in the World Championships in L'Ardèche and on the road, and road became my main focus again. So it wasn't until Wednesday that I got back on the cyclocross bike again."

In the women's race, Baloise Trek Lions teammate Shirin Van Anrooij is one of 13 elite riders under the age of 23 who won the world cyclocross title as a junior in 2020 ...

"She's my teammate on the road as well, so we know each other well. We've been racing together for basically the whole year. It's nice to have another teammate."

Brand admitted that he had an incredible season last year.

"It's really hard to have a great season like last year, so my main goal is to be a good representative as a world champion. Brand added.

"I have never been on top of the European Championships. It's my goal, it's going to take place in two weeks in the Netherlands."