Alvarado triumphs in her first X2O Trofee round of the season

After a five-week recess, the 2025-2026 X2O Badkamers Trofee was back with the penultimate round, the sandy Krawatencross in Lille, Belgium. Runner-up in Saturday’s Superprestige conclusion, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado triumphed in her first X2O Trofee round of the season, snapping Lucinda Brand’s perfect series run. It was Alvarado’s fourth victory of 2025-2026.

Preliminaries

Having won all six rounds, Brand was so far ahead on GC that she could take the final two rounds off, but she didn’t. Second-place Manon Bakker was +11:50 in arrears.

Amandine Fouquenet, denied the Superprestige title on Saturday due to an odd tie-breaking system, claimed the hole shot. Alvarado insisted on the front, Brand on her wheel. Sand forced everyone off their machines early in the lap. Leonie Bentveld and European champion Inge van der Heijden were in the mix. Alvarado took her leave and Brand toiled to bring her back. Brand was +0:05 at the end of the first circuit.

The order remained Alvarado, Brand, Bentveld, van der Heijden early in Lap 2 as the big rubber duckies looked on. There was a lot of sand to fight. Alvarado’s gap was 12 seconds. Bentveld had to catch up to Brand and van der Heijden going into the third circuit.

Brand and van der Heijden, who hasn’t had a Big Three Series podium since November, switched positions at the start of Lap 3 of 5.

Alvarado had a 15-second advantage going into the penultimate lap. Brand didn’t want company anymore, but the difficulty of the course kept the closest chase a duo. Finally in the wooded section Brand dumped her compatriot.

There was no stopping Alvarado, who had nearly a half-minute’s lead when she heard the bell. Brand kept van der Heijden at a distance–the latter kept clear of Bentveld to fill out the podium.

The final round is next Sunday in Brussels.

2025-2026 X2O Badkamers Trofee, Round 7, Lille
1) Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (The Netherlands/Alpecin-Fenix) 42:28
2) Lucinda Brand (The Netherlands/Baloise Lions) +0:22
3) Inge van der Heijden (The Nethelands/Crelan-Corendon) +0:29