Superprestige Merksplas: Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado holds off Lucinda Brand for victory

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) held off a chasing Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) to claim her fifth victory of the season in Merksplas at the fourth round of the Superprestige on Saturday.  

Alvarado eeked out a small gap after making her way to the front of the five-rider lead group before a technical section on the penultimate lap. The former world champion kept up the pressure, building a five-second lead over Brand and Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) as the bell rang for the final lap.

A bobble before the sand pit forced Alvarado to dismount and run while behind, Brand threw down the power, narrowing the gap down to just two seconds. Despite the pressure, Alvarado managed to hold on, claiming her third consecutive win at the Aardbeiencross.

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Schreiber took third on a fast and windy course where group racing played a significant role throughout the race.

After taking the holeshot, Schreiber led from the start, using her road skills to get a small gap after the first lap as a chase group formed behind her. The Luxembourg champion was joined mid-race by Brand, Alvarado, Sara Casasola (Crelan-Correndon), Inge Inge van der Heijden (Fenix-Deceuninck), and Annemarie Worst (Fenix-Deceuninck) midway through the six-lap race.

Brand capitalised on a mistake by van der Heijen on a technical section to briefly break away, but Alvarado, with Schreiber on her wheel, managed to close the gap to the Dutch champion and reclaimed control.

Casasola took fourth, and Van der Heijden was fifth. 

Alvarado takes over the Superprestige leaderboard with 57 points, one point over Brand. Casasola is in third with 47 points.

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