Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) doubled up in the Superprestige Mol Zilvermeercross on Monday, taking victory just 24 hours after winning in Zonhoven.
The former world champion took her ninth win of the cyclocross season in the rain, beating Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) by 34 seconds. Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) was third at 59 seconds. Sanne Cant was fourth.
After four laps, Alvarado opened a small gap and then took advantage of Lucinda Brand's fall to extend her lead. The victory helped Alvarado consolidate her lead in the Superprestige.
“I heard that Brand had fallen, but she wasn’t running that far at that point, so I thought for sure she would still be able to catch up. She didn’t, so that was the moment for me to open the throttle," Alvarado said.
"My start was of course a shame, but there's nothing you can do about it. I was able to finish it with two victories, so that feels good.
Alvarado can enjoy the holidays before returning to racing on December 26 at the Gavare World Cup race.
How it unfolded
Van der Heijden took off like a rocket at the start, leading on the first lap as Brand and Alvarado chased behind. They soon joined her to create a three-rider battle, swapping positions as they dived into the sand and hit the climbs. After 20 minutes of racing, Cant was already 45 seconds behind.
In the final battle for victory, van der Heijden was the first to crack and she had to let Brand and Alvarado go.
Then on the fourth of just six laps, and with only 43 minutes of racing, Brand stumbled in the sand and Alvarado got a gap. It was only a few seconds but she opened the gas and surged away to victory.
That gave back-to-back victories for Alvarado and four out of five wins in the Superprestige series. That is plenty of reason to celebrate at Christmas.
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