Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado is aiming to defend her title at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships held next weekend in Ostend, Belgium. In an interview posted on Alpecin-Fenix's social media account Monday, Alvarado says that she is it will be a difficult race but that she has a strong chance to win the world title for a second consecutive year.
"I think I have a big chance to extend my world champs title, but it will be a difficult race because there are other riders who are strong, but I wouldn’t say that I don’t have a chance that day," Alvarado said. "I’m feeling good and I’m feeling confident. My coach is also saying that I’m on a good level right now."
Alvarado most recently won the final Cyclo-cross World Cup in Overijse last Sunday where she rode away from her rivals to finish the race solo ahead of Dutch compatriots Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) and Manon Bakker (Credishop-Fristads).
It was Alvarado’s first World Cup win of the season and second victory of last weekend after also winning the Flandriencross in Hamme on Saturday.
Alvarado captured the elite women's world title at the 2020 UCI Cyclo-cross World championships in Dübendorf, Switzerland. She held off her compatriots Annemarie Worst and Brand in the sprint on the mostly dry and flat course at the military airbase near Zürich.
She said that she is going into the event next weekend with the same strategy and frame of mind as she did when she won last year's title, and that she does not feel the added pressure of being the defending champion.
"I’m going with the same mindset, to the Worlds, this year as I did last year," Alvarado said. "It’s no big difference for me, actually, and I expected it to be a bit harder going into that race wearing the the rainbow jersey, but I'm quite relaxed, so that’s a good thing."
Alvarado has had a strong season with victories at Telenet Superprestige events at Gieten and Ruddervoorde, X20 Trofee events at Herentals, GP Sven Nys and Flandriencross, European Championships, GP Leuven, and the World Cup in Overijse, but she said that she is always pushing herself for higher achievements.
"It has been an incredible year to ride in these rainbow colours; very unique and very good, especially at such a young age," she said.
"I push myself by setting new goals, so even if I have gotten all of those titles, I keep pushing myself to achieve more than what I have already done. In this way, I try to motivate myself and keep pushing, and setting more boundaries."
