Alvarado fights back after flat tire and beats Brand in X2O Trofee Brussels

Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado won the final round of the X2O Badkamers Trofee. In the Brussels Universities Cyclocross, Lucinda Brand seemed on course for victory after Alvarado suffered a flat tire, but the Dutch champion managed to come back in the penultimate lap and then left the world champion behind. Brand, who was already certain of the overall win in the X2O Trofee, finished second. Manon Bakker completed the podium.

After winning the Waaslandcross on Saturday, Lucinda Brand was also present in Brussels on Sunday for the Brussels Universities Cyclocross. In this city race, she competed against riders including Amandine Fouquenet and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. In terms of the X2O Badkamers Trofee standings, she was already unbeatable.

The best start went to Fouquenet and Leonie Bentveld. Brand and Alvarado, among others, came to a brief stop on the first climbing section, causing them to lose ground for a moment. However, they were able to rejoin shortly afterward. Meanwhile, Lucia Bramati had taken the lead. The Italian even managed to pull away a bit from the favorites but then crashed. Just before the end of the final lap, Fouquenet took over the initiative.

Alvarado’s flat tire
The French rider kept pushing at the start of the second lap, but eventually Alvarado moved up to first place. The Dutch champion created a gap, saw Brand catch up briefly, and then pulled away again. After two laps, she had a seven-second lead over the world champion. However, Alvarado then suffered a flat tire, allowing Brand to pass her. Suddenly, the roles were completely reversed.

Alvarado had to run long stretches, and before she could change her bike, she had already been overtaken by Fouquenet, Manon Bakker, and Inge van der Heijden. Brand thus gained a margin of no less than 26 seconds over Alvarado. Race decided? It seemed like it, but Alvarado was not ready to give up. She steadily closed the gap on Brand in the following laps.

Alvarado comes back and leaves Brand behind
At the end of the fifth lap, she caught up. Alvarado and Brand entered the final lap together, but they didn’t stay side by side for long. After a brief attack from Brand, Alvarado accelerated and dealt the decisive blow for Fenix-Premier Tech. She opened a nice gap on Brand and crossed the finish line with a big advantage.