Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck) came out on top in a battle of world champions at the opening round of the Superprestige series in Ruddervoorde.
She surged to the finish at the end of the 42-minute race to score her fourth career victory in Ruddervoorde, with reigning world champion Van Empel blasting past Brand in the final metres to take second place at three seconds back.
"Mud, wet, dry, fast, that doesn't matter to me," Alvarado said later, according to WielerFlits. "In the beginning, it was hard to get to the front and that's when a tactical game started.
"The technical parts caused gaps to appear and I had to close a few gaps. Then I thought that might cost me the podium, but Lucinda's acceleration was good for me.
"It was all or nothing and it turned out to be true. I was really cursing as that crash was bad timing, but it held everyone up and then I could pull away again. It was all or nothing until the finish and that worked out well."
Alvarado and Brand had been engaged in a duel for victory on the final lap of six after Brand had raced into the penultimate lap solo.
She had earlier led the race on her own during the very first lap. Her lead wouldn't last, however, with a select chase group consisting of Alvarado, Van Empel and Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) managing to make it a lead quartet on the third lap.
Inge van der Heijden (Fenix-Deceuninck) and Laura Verdonschot (De Ceuster-Bonache) almost made it six out front, but Brand was determined to try and win it alone.
On the fifth lap, she once again surged clear, leaving Alvarado, Van Empel and Casasola behind, but her move wouldn't stick all the way to the line.
Instead, it was Alvarado who made it back across the gap to set up a two-woman fight for glory. Neither managed to distance the other during the final lap, though an Alvarado slip did momentarily give Brand the chance to go solo once more.
There was no room to get past, however, leaving the two locked in battle again. But Van Empel was still mounting a furious chase behind them. The 22-year-old put in a huge effort to make it back in time for the finish and set up a grandstand finale.
The trio came to the final metres of the race still together, but it was Alvarado who had the best run around the final bend, leading all the way to the finish and launching a powerful sprint to victory.
Behind her, Brand looked to be set for second place, but she let up before the finish line, seemingly unaware that Van Empel was still close behind. The Visma rider was still sprinting, however, and nipped through to secure second place at the final moment.
Results
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