Strong Alvarado wins Exact Cross after comeback race, claiming her third consecutive victory

After cyclocross races in Beringen and Essen, Exact Cross was already on its third race of the series. For this race, the riders headed to the Netherlands, to the Gelderland municipality of Heerde. A course was laid out at the nearby recreational area of Heerderstrand, featuring challenging sandy stretches along the local body of water.

Alvarado was considered the top favorite, especially since her compatriots Lucinda Brand and world champion Fem van Empel were skipping the Heerderstrand race. This meant the main competition had to come from the Dutch Van der Heijden and the Belgian Verdonschot. However, it looked like those two would have a tough challenge ahead. Alvarado had shown top form in recent weeks, winning her last two races.

As is often the case, Van der Heijden was the fastest once the race started, immediately taking off. Defending champion Manon Bakker was right on her teammate’s wheel. Verdonschot also had a strong start, following closely behind the two Dutch riders. Alvarado didn’t have the best start but had a solid position in sixth, allowing her to quickly move up to the front.

Heading into the first sandy section, Van der Heijden, Bakker and Verdonschot opened a gap on the rest. Aware of the danger, Alvarado moved up to fourth. After the first lap, however, she still had a six-second gap to bridge.

Van der Heijden pressed on in the second lap, making it difficult for Bakker and Verdonschot, who began to lose a little ground. Meanwhile, a calm-looking Alvarado gradually closed in, catching up with Bakker, who had started to lose ground to Verdonschot.

Unfortunately, Alvarado briefly lost that connection due to a bike change. After the second lap, the former world champion was ten seconds behind Van der Heijden and Verdonschot. Bakker was positioned righ tin between them, five seconds behind.

During the third run through the sand, Alvarado again caught up with Bakker. However, the ten-second gap to the lead duo remained almost unchanged. Then Alvarado showed us why she’s among the world’s elite. She quickly overtook Bakker and reduced the gap to Verdonschot and Van der Heijden by half thanks to a strong acceleration.

Soon after, Alvarado caught up with the race leaders. She didn’t immediately pass them but wisely took some time to recover in the slipstream of Van der Heijden and Verdonschot. There wasn't a whole lot of action during the fourth lap. Van der Heijden was in the lead, with Verdonschot and Alvarado close behind.

Approaching the penultimate finish line, Van der Heijden seemed to have had enough and slowed down, forcing Verdonschot into the lead. The fifth lap then saw more fierce competition, especially between Van der Heijden and her Belgian rival. Alvarado stayed notably calm, watching and likely waiting for an opportunity to win the race with a decisive attack.

That attack came on a straight section. Alvarado swiftly passed Van der Heijden. Verdonschot, sensing the threat, tried to block her, but Alvarado slipped through despite slight contact. From there, the race was over quickly. Alvarado’s pace was so high that Verdonschot and Van der Heijden simply couldn’t keep up. Alvarado held her lead in the final lap, winning for the third time in a row. Van der Heijden beat Verdonschot to take second place.