"I was in quite a bit of pain for a lap and a half" - Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado sees good form offset by bad luck

For Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, it wasn't quite a perfect weekend. After taking victory at Superprestige Ruddervoorde on Saturday, the Dutchwoman was forced to settle for second in Maasmechelen in the UCI World Cup.

“I felt pretty good, but I fell on the second lap. Fem van Empel opened a gap and that was the end of the story for today,” said Alvarado in her post-race interview, lamenting the crash as a decisive part of the race. “I fell quite hard. My knee is open, my shoe was broken and I was in quite a bit of pain for a lap and a half. I had to take it very easy. Then I was able to race again, but it was already lost.”

I fell quite hard after the beams, over that gravel section. I was immediately in quite a bit of pain," she continues. "I didn't have the impression that she would just let me go today, but unfortunately it turned out differently.”

Despite the bit of bad luck, the form remains good for the Alpecin-Deceuninck rider and she remains positive ahead of next weekends European Championships. “If I recover well from my crash, I hope to be able to do such a battle again next week. And then instead of one lap, the entire race,” she assesses.