"That may not have been her smartest move..." - Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado capitalises on tactical error by Lucinda Brand at Flandriencross - Hamme

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado continued her immense form this winter on Sunday afternoon at Flandriencross - Hamme, taking her third successive victory. As it turned out, the Dutch star's hopes of success were boosted by a tactical error from one of her rivals.

Heading into the final lap, Alvarado, Sara Casasola and Lucinda Brand were locked together at the front of the race. Just after the pits though, Alvarado made her move towards victory. “They called out that Lucinda had changed. That may not have been her smartest move..." Alvarado explained in her post-race interview. "I kept riding and accelerated a bit, so she had to close the gap. She finally closed it when turning towards the finish. I knew it was going to be tough, because I was also stuck. It was a matter of gritting my teeth until the finish. It was the toughest race of the season for me.”

“I really suffered today,” Alvarado also noted. “I certainly didn’t have the impression that I was the better rider today. It was chasing, chasing, closing gaps all the time. But I never gave up. I always kept believing. But I never expected it to be like this on the last lap.”

As mentioned, this also marks her third victory in a row over the last week. “I am very happy with that. I will definitely keep my feet on the ground, because things can change very quickly. I just hope that it continues like this," she concludes. "Hopefully I can continue this line. Whether I am also thinking about the X2O Trophy? I don't really know. Not all the rounds are on my program because of the busy Christmas period, but who knows.”