NOS Sport•
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado has recorded her first victory this cyclo-cross season.
The Dutchwoman registered at the last minute for the Zilvermeercross, the competition she won last year. This year she was the boss of compatriot Manon Bakker and home rider Julie Brouwers.
Lucinda Brand won the last thirteen cyclo-cross races she participated in, but in the white sand of Mol she was conspicuous by her absence, just like the snow initially.
In fact, because names such as Puck Pieterse and Shirin van Anrooij were also missing from the starting list, the chance of a non-Dutch winner seemed great.
However, at the last minute, three more Dutch people were added to the starting list: Annemarie Worst, Manon Bakker and Alvarado. Alvarado has been struggling with back problems for months, but said he did not want to skip a cross too often.
Home game
The Dutch rider got off to a good start, but ran into problems during the first passage over the beach. At the front, Julie Brouwers took the lead decisively. The 23-year-old Flemish lives just eleven kilometers from the Zilvermeer and wanted to show something in her home match.
After two laps, a leading group emerged with Brouwers, her compatriot Fleur Moors, and the Dutch Bakker and Alvarado.
The Czech Kristýna Zemanová was also present, continuing the upward trend of recent weeks. On December 29 in Loenhout, she was the only one who could follow Brand deep into the match.
Now she had to let the trio of Bakker, Brouwers and Alvarado go halfway through the match. Two laps before the end, Alvarado attacked on the asphalt at the finish passage and there she made her decisive blow.
Despite the heavy snowstorm that arose shortly afterwards, Alvarado single-handedly completed the fastest lap of the race and a lap later raised her hands for the first time this season.
