In Zonhoven, Ceylin Alvarado was able to win yesterday and the question was whether she could continue that good form today. Lucinda Brand had to settle for third place in Zonhoven and wanted to end up at the top of the podium today. Zoe Bäckstedt, the strong second in Zonhoven, did not participate today.
Threesome in the front
It was Inge van der Heijden who took off like a rocket. She immediately had a small lead over first pursuers Lucinda Brand and Ceylin Alvarado. That didn't take too long. The chasing duo soon drove to Van der Heijden. They were left with three. In the background, Belgian champion Sanne Cant fought for fourth place.
The three leaders stayed close to each other for a long time. They eagerly exchanged the lead. Halfway through the cross, it was already clear that the trio would no longer be overtaken by Sanne Cant, who was clearly aiming for fourth place. She followed at 46 seconds. Cant ultimately also won the battle for fourth place and was very satisfied with that.
Brand's mistake
Inge van der Heijden was the first to crack. She had to let Brand and Alvarado go. In the fourth of six laps things went wrong for Brand. She fell to the ground in the sand and so she also had to let Alvarado go and give chase. Alvarado had already gained a few seconds.
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The cross seemed to have been completed, but Brand would not let up. Alvarado had an eleven-second lead at one point, but entered the final lap with an eight-second lead. Fire came closer. It promised to be an exciting final round. In the end it didn't work out. Alvarado remained clear and Brand had difficulty with the sand strips. The lead increased and victory was achieved. Two in a row for Alvarado, who also remains leader in the Superprestige rankings.
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Ceylin Alvarado: “Thought Brand would make the connection”
Alvarado recorded her ninth victory of the season and she was of course happy with that: “That is only nice of course and I am very happy with that. Did I make a difference in the sand? Yes, although I must say that it was difficult, because when you arrived first, everything was crushed and there was no real trail to follow and in the wheel you had no overview, so it was difficult to make a choice . In the end, I tried to make a difference halfway through because I heard that Inge (van der Heijden, ed.) had to walk and then there were still two of us, so that made a difference.”
Lucinda Brand fell and Alvarado took full advantage of it: “I had heard that Brand had fallen, but she wasn't running that far yet, so I thought for sure she would still be able to connect. She didn't, so that was the moment for me to open the gas tap.”
Alvarado's weekend started poorly, but in the end she was able to turn it into a successful three-day event: “That start was of course a shame, but nothing could be done about it. I was able to end it with two victories, so that's good.”
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