Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado rides solo to victory at Kermiscross in Ardooie
Belgian riders Marion Norbert Riberolle and Alicia Franck complete podium at midweek home cyclocross race

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."
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Jackie has been involved in professional sports for more than 30 years in news reporting, sports marketing and public relations. She founded Peloton Sports in 1998, a sports marketing and public relations agency, which managed projects for Tour de Georgia, Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah and USA Cycling. She also founded Bike Alpharetta Inc, a Georgia non-profit to promote safe cycling. She is proud to have worked in professional baseball for six years - from selling advertising to pulling the tarp for several minor league teams. She has climbed l'Alpe d'Huez three times (not fast). Her favorite road and gravel rides are around horse farms in north Georgia (USA) and around lavender fields in Provence (France), and some mtb rides in Park City, Utah (USA).
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