Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado stamps authority in cyclocross World Cup with solo victory in Namur

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado has soared to take the win in the Namur World Cup - her third of the year. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider beat Puck Pieterse and extended her lead in the competition.

The race in Namur is always one that is devastating for the field. Plenty riders were at the start line today, quickly the riders began to split in the circuit's many climbs. Sara Casasola headed to the front of the race early on but Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado did not wait long to hit the front, make the difference on the technical descents and sustain it.

Lucinda Brand had a slow start whilst Puck Pieterse suffered a mechanical and required a quick bike change, in the space of a few minutes Alvarado carved a meaningful gap before her two compatriots began to directly chase her. Behind the rest of the field was meaningfully distanced.

The gap was stable around 20 seconds, but on lap 4 Pieterse began to struggle with the rhythm of Brand. The Baloise - Trek Lions briefly managed to cut some of the gap, but it soon started to balloon up once again in the final two laps as Alvarado managed to sustain the impressive rhythm.

The Dutchwoman stayed safe on the bike and took the victory, a fully Dutch podium as Puck Pieterse stormed through the final minutes of the race and sprinted to second place, beating Lucinda Brand.