Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado marked her return from a knee injury with a promising third-place finish in the second UCI 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.
Though race winner Aniek Van Alphen (Seven Racing) attacked early to build a solo advantage on the dry and flowing French course, Alvarado was soon in the battle for the top five positions, despite starting on the second row.
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 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 opponent to respond with a show of strength, eventually taking second place.
For Alvarado, a podium finish was a welcome return to racing.
"I think I can be very happy with today," she said afterwards. "I suffered a lot, and it was a hard race for me, so I think today a third place was the maximum. Aniek [Van Alphen] was outstanding. Halfway through, I thought that the first place was already gone. Of course, I tried, but I didn't have the legs to ride faster than I did today. Also, she deserved it.
"I entered the race without any expectations. I just did my best to get the maximum. It was a hard race, especially with the straight sections.
"I think I was at a bit of a disadvantage today. On the technical sections, I tried to get ahead, but it was always too short. After a technical section, there was always a power section. I lost today because of that."
When questioned how her knee felt, Alvarado added, "My knee was fine. I think [the injury] it's gone now and it's okay. Maybe sometimes I will feel something, but I think it will be fine."
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.
She had been expected to start her cyclocross season at the start of October in Meulebeke. However, her Fenix-Deceuninck team announced that the former Dutch, European and World Champion would be delaying her season start.
"She is still recovering from persistent knee issues, which means she will have to postpone the beginning of her season. We wish her a speedy recovery," they said at the time.
Before the start in Flamanville, almost two months later, she said: "I’m good. I had the green light to start here today. It’s very nice to be back, and I’m really excited to be back."
When asked if she had missed the racing, Alvarado added, "A bit, yes. On one hand, no, because you know, having an injury and knowing that you’re not good enough to race is fine. On the other hand, missing all the races is a bit hard, of course."
While the injury has impacted the Dutch rider’s overall ambitions in the two biggest domestic series - she missed four rounds of the Superprestige and three X2O Badkamers Trofee races - the delayed start to this year’s World Cup means she can still make an impact.
She only missed last weekend’s opening round in Tábor, and she may be able to make up ground on Van Alphen, who now leads the series overall. What's more, several of her rivals missed the round at Flamanville.
After winning the opening round, Lucinda Brand decided to miss the French race to spend more time at a training camp. "I won't do all the World Cups and skip some Superprestige races,” said Brand earlier this season to In De Leiderstrui.
"I now ride fewer races in the Christmas period, so I should normally come out fitter. I knew before we finished last year that there were fewer crosses to be ridden. I then said that I am not going for a classification, but purely to see which races suit me.
"I also really want to ride a normal road season, so it's not just that I want to keep performing in the 'cross, but also afterwards."
Italian, Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) also missed the second World Cup round of the season after placing runner-up in Tábor. Meanwhile, World Champion, Fem Van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike), is taking a break from cyclocross racing with her return date uncertain.
