Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado has won the very entertaining Superprestige in Merksplas. The Fenix-Deceuninck rider was the strongest in the Strawberry Cross. After a battle with Lucinda Brand and Marie Schreiber, among others, the Dutchwoman came out on top, in a match that was fun and exciting for a long time.
The women’s cross seems more open than last season, regarding the first weeks in the field. With Fem van Empel still absent, it was expected that it would again turn into a battle between Del Carmen Alvarado and Brand. The ladies started at 1.40 pm. It was not Brand and Alvarado who started quickly, but Marie Schreiber who started at a rocket pace on the first lap. She was followed closely by Zoë Backstedt.
Schreiber sets the tone, Brand and Alvarado have to warm up
Schreiber’s acceleration turned out to be more serious than expected: she immediately went solo and crossed the line after round one with a lead of about seven seconds over the rest of the top riders. Alvarado and Brand clearly had to warm up, although the latter showed her class in the sandbox. At the start of the second round, the Dutch owners came forward, side by side.
Round two was therefore dominated by the departure of Brand and Alvarado from the elite group. They quickly followed the Luxembourg champion of SD Worx-Protime. Alvarado seemed slightly stronger than Brand. Behind them, Backstedt and Sara Casasola, who impressed by sprinting through the sand, also came up and everything came together again and we had five front runners. Backstedt fell away in round three, while several ladies flew over her, including Annemarie Worst. An exciting game of Merksplas!
Merksplascross degenerates into crowding at the front, Brand takes control
Round four was therefore characterized by a large collection of ladies at the front. Inge van der Heijden also joined again. On one of the few small climbs, Brand had a ten-meter lead, but behind her Van der Heijden stopped for a moment, meaning that the rest could not continue. This suddenly gave Brand a gap of about five seconds. Could she hold this? The answer was no. Alvarado returned quickly and showed her strengths. Van der Heijden also joined up again and so we had three at the front.
And yet the course again proved not to be selective enough, Casasola, Worst and Schreiber also returned. At the end of the penultimate lap, this was too much for Alvarado: she accelerated furiously when the rest gasped for breath. Brand had a bad moment and had to depend on Schreiber. The bird had flown. Alvarado stayed steady pedaled hard and survived the hills, stairs and sandpit, although she was closely followed by the Dutch champion. It came too late. A new victory for the lady who started the cross year so well. Brand, based on character, finished second at a close distance, Schreiber captured third place well.
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Result Superprestige Merksplas 2024, elite women
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
