Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado claims liberating first win of the season in Mol snow

However, Alvarado didn’t get off to the best start. The Rotterdam native — who has been struggling with physical issues this season — clearly found the many sand sections challenging, so it took a while before she took the lead to apply pressure. After a hesitant opening lap, she shook off all hesitation and decided to make her first aggressive move. Following that, five riders remained at the front: Alvarado, Fleur Moors, Julie Brouwers, Manon Bakker, and Kristyna Zemanova.

Alvarado made another attempt a lap later. This time, only Bakker, who had earlier encountered bad luck in the race, and Brouwers were able to follow the former world champion. The podium was set after that acceleration, although the exact order still had to be decided in the final laps.

It was, however, crystal clear who was the strongest rider this Friday. With two and a half laps to go, Alvarado made a decisive break, after which she steadily extended her lead over Bakker and Brouwers. Notably, Alvarado did this amid a fierce snowstorm: halfway through the race, heavy snow started falling. After 50 minutes, she crossed the finish line with a twelve-second advantage. Behind Alvarado, Bakker managed to drop Brouwers, securing second and third places.