Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado wins Zonhoven World Cup - Backstedt second and Brand extends World Cup lead with third

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado as struck again. The Dutch rider is on a great stint of form, and in the sandy course of the World Cup Zonhoven, the experienced cross specialist took a strong win with a very measured ride and a late attack.

Without Fem van Empel on the startlist, this would be set to be a very open race and with several favourites. Marie Schreiber surprised yesterday in Hulst but we've had the experienced figures of the discipline take hold of the race today.

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Schreiber did take the holeshot but quickly Zoe Bäckstedt took the head of the race and looked to make the difference. She took a gap of over 20 seconds over the rest of the field but this was a rough six lap race and the endurance started to kick in. On lap 4 Lucinda Brand caught the Briton and then several others came close to the lead of the race.

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado joined the duo on lap 5 and then Alvarado kicked to drop her two rivals with a powerful attack. The Fenix - Deceuninck rider entered the final lap with an 11-second gap over her rivals. In the final lap she maintained this despite a few tricky wobbles in the sandy descents, and took her second World Cup win this winter after Namur. Bäckstedt rode to a strong second place only 5 seconds back whilst Lucinda Brand rode to third.

Lucinda Brand took full advantage of this opportunity, extending her cup lead over both Schreiber and van Empel who were closest to her in the cup's standings.