Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado marked her return from a knee injury with a fine third place finish in the second Cyclo-cross World Cup round at Flamanville on Sunday.
The 27-year-old former cyclocross World Champion had unknown ambitions coming into the event after missing almost two months of ‘cross racing due to persistent knee problems.
The Fenix-Deceuninck rider was matching the leader’s fastest lap times as she pulled into the podium battle by the midway point, but by then was 21 seconds behind Van Alphen.
French national champion Amandine Fouquenet (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Alvarado pulled away from their rivals in the latter stages to battle out second position. On the final lap a confident Alvarado showed her technical ability to pull away from Fouquenet, only for her French opponent to respond with a show of strength, eventually taking second place.
Like her cyclocross rivals, Alvarado also combines her ‘cross ambitions with a road programme for Fenix-Deceuninck. This year she placed fourth in the Antwerp Port Epic Ladies, also completing the Vuelta España Femenina and the Tour de Suisse.
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