Victory queen Ceylin Alvarado also triumphs in Superprestige Mol, Brand second again

The ninth victory of the season for Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado is a fact. The Fenix-Deceuninck rider soloed brilliantly to another victory in the Superprestige Mol on Monday. Lucinda Brand once again had to acknowledge her superiority and came second, Inge van der Heijden (3rd) ensured an entirely Dutch podium.

During the busy Christmas and New Year period, the cyclo-cross riders hardly get any respite. After a double World Cup weekend – with the crosses in Hulst and Zonhoven – today it was time for the fifth round in the Superprestige. In the Zilvermeercross in Mol, the participants were given sand, sand and more sand.

Among the women, the field of participants was less impressive than in the previous days in the World Cups. For example, multi-talented Puck Pieterse decided to suit up for the cross in Mol, just like some foreign top riders such as Blanka Vas and Marie Schreiber. World champion Fem van Empel was also not present. But don't worry: with Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Lucinda Brand, there were still two top players ready to leave.

Van der Heijden carries out the forcing, but the chaff quickly falls from the wheat
But the best start was for another Dutch woman. Inge van der Heijden was the first to enter the field, but Alvarado and Brand were also alert. After her cannon start, Van der Heijden decided to push on again. With several strong sand passages, the Crelan-Corendon rider put a lot of pressure on the competition. Only Brand and Alvarado proved to be able to keep up with Van der Heijden, although this did not happen automatically.

After the opening round the differences had already increased considerably, so we could already prepare for a three-way battle for victory. The three Dutch top players clearly turned out to be a size too big for the competition. The first pursuers – Belgian champion Sanne Cant, Aniek van Alphen and the surprisingly strong Julie Brouwers – were already trailing by no less than forty seconds after two laps.

The expected conflict
At the peak of the race, the three leaders appeared to be very evenly matched. While Alvarado and Brand asserted themselves on the power strips, Van der Heijden showed her superior sand skills at times. However, one bad passage through the sand did her down in the fourth round. In no time, Van der Heijden found himself ten seconds behind and was unable to correct this lopsided situation.

This gave us an expected battle between Alvarado and Brand in the last fifteen minutes, not entirely coincidentally the numbers one and two in the Superprestige standings. Although Alvarado seemed to have this battle in her favor at the end of the fourth round. While the Fenix-Deceuninck rider rode flawlessly through the sand, her great competitor made mistakes twice.

Brand does not give up, but Alvarado proves to be too strong
Alvarado made a nice breach, managed to extend her lead to about ten seconds and never looked back. Want books? The tough Brand continued to put pressure in the background, so it was certainly not over yet. The Dutch champion found her second breath in the penultimate round and managed to halve the difference again. The difference going into the final round? Eight seconds.

This turned out to be the signal for Alvarado to press the accelerator a little further and this turned out to be too much acceleration for Brand. Alvarado was unable to make a mistake in the final round and soloed to her ninth victory of the season. Also not unimportant: with her victory in Mol she is also doing well with a view to the overall victory in the Superprestige.

Alvarado keeps winning – photo: Cor Vos

Brand – who has been on the podium sixteen times in the past sixteen races – finished second once again. After her strong start, Inge van der Heijden crossed the line in third place and was also able to take her place on the podium. Cant and Brouwers completed the top 5.