Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) soloed to victory in Ardooie at Kermiscross on Thursday. A trio of Belgian riders were lined out behind the former World and Dutch champion, with Marion Norbert Riberolle (Crelan-Corendon) taking second, 28 seconds back, and Alicia Franck (De Ceuster-Bouwpunt) securing third, another 20 seconds down.
Julie Brouwers (Charles Liégeois Roastery CX), who is just 21 years old, sprinted ahead of Dutch rider Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) for fourth place, the two dropping off the pace in the final laps and riding across the line a little more than a minute-and-a-half back.
A lead group of nine riders remained together through the first half of the race until Alvarado increased the pace to make an initial separation.
With three laps to go she was alone at the front, leaving Norbert Riberolle and Franck to chase. They were the only two to keep Alvarado in their sights for a time, until the Dutch rider stretched her advantage.
“At one point I accelerated without really attacking and hoped to get a few riders with me. But I was suddenly alone and so I had to continue solo,” Alvarado told Het Nieuwsblad after her victory.
“Today was quite a difficult cross. You could never recover on this muddy surface, but you had to keep going, otherwise you would come to a complete standstill. I would have preferred a slightly better running surface today, but it is what it is.”
Results
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