Two in a row! Alvarado wins exciting battle with Van Empel and Brand in Superprestige Ruddervoorde

The Superprestige kicked off Sunday in Ruddervoorde. The first round of the cyclo-cross series promised to be predominantly a clash between Van Empel and Alvarado. Both already had a duel a week ago in the season opener of Beringen in Belgium. Partly due to equipment failure, Alvarado was on the losing end. In the meantime, Alvarado had her first victory. She won the "single cross'' of Ardooie in Belgium on Thursday; Van Empel skipped it.

Leonie Bentveld blasted from the start and turned first into the field. Van Empel took off a little slower and rode around eighth position. However, the world champion rectified that situation smoothly and efficiently, after which she was back in her beloved position: first place. However, she had to surrender it to Brand. The Dutch champion put considerable pressure on the competition with a furious pace.

Van Empel even had to leave Brand a gap. She also changed bikes at the first opportunity; the equipment set-up at the start did not seem quite right. Brand took advantage and gained a few seconds, but the difference was still minimal. Alvarado had to close a larger gap; she was racing in sixth position, five seconds behind Van Empel and Bentveld.

At the first pass of the finish line, Brand felt the hot breath of the chasing trio. Meanwhile, Italian champion Sara Casasola had caught up with Van Empel and Bentveld. The difference with Brand was only three seconds. Van Empel understandably wanted to close the gap to Brand as quickly as possible. The high pace of the world champion soon became too much for Bentveld, but Casasola was still hanging on.

Alvarado, meanwhile, was pushing along with pace. She had moved up to fourth place, and on the sand section, on lap two, she joined Van Empel and the Italian. Alvarado also rode the fastest time on lap two. She then moved on to Brand. Van Empel was struggling at that point; she had to leave a gap in Casasola.

Eventually, the three chasers rejoined Brand. It was then Casasola who surprisingly took the lead. However, she could not make a difference, so the four kept each other in balance. Van Empel had enough and launched a vicious attack. The vigorous riding Casasola was on the wheel and tagged along. Alvarado had more trouble but still returned. For Brand, things looked bad for a while. However, she managed to fight her way back with a strong passage in the sand.

With two laps to go, the situation was back to normal. Meanwhile, Inge van der Heijden and Laura Verdonschot regained some hope. As the front fell silent, they came back to ten seconds. However, they seemed to be closing in at the moment, and Brand, to their despair, pulled through. As a result, Van der Heijden and Verdonschot lost contact with the front of the race again.

The acceleration of Brand, who had recovered somewhat from her first lap, was a strong one. She created a gap and started the final lap with a slight lead over Alvarado. Van Empel did not have an immediate answer and followed up with Casasola at eight seconds. Van Empel also seemed to be missing the top legs. It appeared to be between Alvarado and Brand. The latter had the lead for a long time, but Alvarado outpaced her with a strong effort on a sloping side.

Alvarado was, therefore, able to start first on the sandy sections. Where she hoped to outrun Brand, the second came back on her wheel. Then Alvarado fell, holding up Brand as well. This allowed Van Empel to rejoin, but Alvarado pulled right back on. This time, she had a decisive gap. Alvarado won ahead of Van Empel and Brand. The last one was already celebrating because she would be second, but because of that, she lost it to a fierce Van Empel.