"Lucinda was almost on my wheel" - Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado survives late Brand fightback to take another Superprestige success
Cyclocross
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado has once again been one of the stars of women's cyclocross so far this winter. On Saturday afternoon at Superprestige Aardbeiencross Merksplas, the former world champion took her victory tally to 5 for the season.
In a closely fought battle, it wasn't until lap 5 that Alvarado managed to get separation from her rivals. Even once she did it qasn't completely certain of her victory until the very final pedal strokes though as Lucinda Brand battled hard to get back into contact at the front, almost managing to complete the comeback too.
“We already saw in Lokeren that Lucinda and I are evenly matched. I took that moment, but the last lap was really tough,” the leader of Fenix-Deceuninck reflected in her post-race interview afterwards. “I was tired and was still thinking that I had to get through that sand passage one more time to win, but then it went wrong halfway and I lost focus.”
And it was that lost focus that almost proved costly. “I was running as fast as I could, but it wasn’t fast anymore. Lucinda was practically on my wheel, but I just kept riding to the finish line because the sprint was too short to really sprint,” Alvarado recalls. "I had to dig deep, but that gap made me seize my moment. I knew that on such a fast lap it would be difficult to close the gap, unless you have super legs."
| 01 | Alvarado Ceylin del Carmen | - | 45:39 |
| 02 | Brand Lucinda | - | + 03 |
| 03 | Schreiber Marie | - | + 08 |
| 04 | Casasola Sara | - | + 13 |
| 05 | van der Heijden Inge | - | + 28 |
| 06 | Worst Annemarie | - | + 47 |
| 07 | Backstedt Zoe | - | + 55 |
| 08 | Bakker Manon | - | + 59 |
| 09 | Bentveld Leonie | - | + 01:03 |
| 10 | Verdonschot Laura | - | + 01:10 |
| 11 | van Alphen Aniek | - | + 01:26 |
| 12 | Norbert Riberolle Marion | - | + 01:58 |
| 13 | Betsema Denise | - | + 02:02 |
| 14 | Cant Sanne | - | + 02:08 |
| 15 | Brouwers Julie | - | + 02:08 |
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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Superprestige Merksplas 16-11-2024 Aardbeiencross Podium dames 1 Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado 🇳🇱 - leidster 2 Lucinda Brand 🇳🇱 3 Marie Schreiber 🇱🇺 veldritkrant.be/kalender/hoogs… Fotocredit TFoto
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