Back-to-back victory for Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado amid the snow and ice in Zonhoven, where the ninth race of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup was hosted. Her fellow FENIX- Premier Tech rider and Dutch champion, Puck Pieterse, finished third.
It was a chaotic and demanding race, where riders faced the famous sandy pit section known as the Kuil van Zonhoven. The course, which was also muddy and covered in snow, was marked by falls and mistakes.
“I made many mistakes along the way, and I think I was riding too long with the wrong tires. It was really slippery for me, but I never gave up. But the mistakes were crucial today,” said Alvarado. She crossed the finished line with a 23-second gap from Lucina Brand (Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions) and 49 seconds ahead of Pieterse.
“Zonhoven delivered as always. An epic battle in a winter wonderland made this victory definitely unforgettable,” concluded Alvarado.
Pieterse, who had a great start and led the race early on, smiled when talking about the first crash in the sand pit. “It was quite funny. I survived the first time in the sand pit. We go in the second time; I catch a wrong drop and go OTB, and I’m like ‘I made a mistake and everyone will pass me.’ Then first I see Lucinda crash and I’m like ‘ok, I’m not the only one’ and then Ceylin crashes, and I had to laugh that we all three fell. But it shows how hectic a start like this can be.”
