Superprestige Niel: Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado dominates from start to finish
Lucinda Brand second, Marion Norbert Riberolle third at Jaarmarktcross
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) was in a class of her own as she soloed to her fourth win of the 2024 cyclocross season at the Superprestige Niel, taking the lead on the first of five laps and staying away all the way to the finish.
Despite losing out to Dutch champion Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) in Sunday's Rapencross, Alvarado easily managed to pull away in the opening phases with no response from her rivals.
Alvarado managed to eke out a nine-second gap to Brand at the end of the opening lap to 21 seconds by the finish after a brief 42 minutes of racing. Brand held onto second place after an intense battle with Sara Casasola (Crelan-Correndon).
However, the Italian champion lost out on the final podium spot after teammate Marion Norbert Riberolle worked her way past on the final lap with a last-gasp sprint to the line.
It was a practically flawless performance from the former world champion Alvarado, who dealt with the heavy mud, an awful lot of running and five reps up the tough climb of the Muur van Niel better than those behind.
Her third win in a row in Niel moved her up to equal first in the Superprestige overall standings on 42 points, alongside Brand, with Casasola five points off them in third and world champion Fem van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike) further down on 28 points.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
American Criterium Cup juggles eight-race US calendar for fourth edition in 2025
Racing begins June 6 at Saint Francis Tulsa Tough, with remaining schedule zig-zagging across central US -
Black Friday bike deals 2024: The best cycling deals this 'Fake Friday'
Save on bikes, clothing, accessories and tech from the likes of Castelli, Assos, Specialized, Wahoo and much more -
Summit of fearsome Mortirolo climb in Italy renamed after Marco Pantani
Italian's blazing ascent of Mortirolo in 1994 treasured page of Giro d'Italia history -
'We don't know his limits on the road' - Will Tom Pidcock ride the 2025 Tour de France?
Briton's coach Kurt Bogaerts says 'we still haven't seen the ultimate performance in a Grand Tour yet' from Pidcock