Fouquenet beats Alvarado after thriller in Middelkerke, Van Alphen narrowly wins Superprestige

Fouquenet claimed victory at the Noordzeecross in Middelkerke. The French rider beat Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and seemed poised to take the overall Superprestige win. However, Aniek van Alphen, who started the final round as the leader, managed to narrowly secure the overall victory at the last moment.

The Noordzeecross in Middelkerke was the concluding race of the 2025-2026 Superprestige. After seven rounds, Aniek van Alphen led with 83 points but was not yet guaranteed the overall title. Amandine Fouquenet (76 points) still had a chance to overtake the Dutch rider, for example by winning the race while Van Alphen finished outside the top eight, or by taking second place if Van Alphen finished outside the top nine, and so on.

Regarding the day’s victory, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado was the clear favorite. Puck Pieterse and world champion Lucinda Brand did not start.

Fouquenet bursts away
Leonie Bentveld was present and once again took the best start. The Under-23 world champion was the first to dive into the field. Her teammate Fouquenet followed swiftly, took the lead after three minutes, and immediately pushed hard on the muddy course. She created a gap and after one lap came through with a clear advantage. Marie Schreiber and Marion Norbert Riberolle followed ten seconds behind, while Van Alphen and the poorly starting Alvarado were still several seconds further back.

In the second of six laps, Alvarado bridged up to the pair ahead. The Dutch champion immediately took over the lead, dropped her companions, and began the solo chase after Fouquenet. Van Alphen stayed a bit behind but kept riding safely in fifth place for now. She still had control but couldn’t count on Fouquenet faltering. The French rider extended her lead over closest chaser Alvarado during the second lap as well.

Pressure on two fronts
In lap three, Alvarado closed back to thirteen seconds from Fouquenet, but there was also good news for Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw rider. Van Alphen lost several positions and was ninth halfway through the race. If things stayed that way, the overall victory would go to Fouquenet. The Frenchwoman kept pushing hard and maintained a stable gap with Alvarado. Entering the final lap, the gap was twelve seconds.

Meanwhile, Van Alphen was in tenth but managed to tuck in behind her teammate Annemarie Worst and still had Bentveld ahead of her. Everything was still possible—both in terms of the overall title and the day’s win. Alvarado closed in dangerously on Fouquenet in the final lap. Would the Dutch champion still take the win and, in doing so, also assist Van Alphen in securing the ultimate prize?

No double victory for Fouquenet.
The suspense lasted until the last minutes, but ultimately the Noordzeecross victory went ‘just’ to Fouquenet. The 24-year-old French rider relegated Alvarado and Schreiber to second and third places, respectively. This marked her third TV-cross win of the winter.

Then it was a matter of waiting for Van Alphen, who needed to finish at least eighth. She managed this by overtaking Inge van der Heijden in the closing stages. The European champion, riding for Crelan-Corendon (like Seven Racing, a team run by the Roodhooft brothers), appeared in no rush to hold off her friend. This allowed Van Alphen to clinch the overall title.

Van Alphen and Fouquenet both ended with 91 points, but the Dutch rider had started in more Superprestige rounds. According to the rules, this was the tiebreaker.