Seirin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won Saturday's Mercs Plus to take the overall series lead.

This time last year, the 2020 cyclocross world champion missed the start of the Superprestige and World Cup rounds for health reasons that her Alpecin team called "bad blood pictures." She was off the bike for an extended period of time.

She finished fourth at the World Championships in Fayetteville, Arkansas, ending the 2021-2022 season without a win. A series of injuries and suspensions kept her from the top step of the podium for multiple events in 2022, and in March she underwent surgery for a torn ligament in her right wrist. This delayed the start of her mountain biking season and shortened her road season at Planteur Pla to just 11 days.

On November 11, she won the Superprestige in Neal, ending a 21-month gap. She spoke to Cycling News about the U.S. swing of the World Cup race that began in Waterloo, Wisconsin, and predicted that she would be back in contention for the lead.

"Well, I'm healthy again. I think everything is going well. Of course, I'm not the same person I used to be, but I'm building on that. Of course it takes time and you have to be patient, but I think I'm on the right track," Alvarado told Cycling News. I think I'm on the right path," Alvarado told Cycling News. [There is still a gap to Lucinda Brand and Femme van Empel. I'm not saying it will be hard to close that gap, but it will take time. But I believe in the process. I hope we can have another good cyclocross season and I am confident that everything will work out."

This week's back-to-back wins came against a strong field in Merckxplus that included Brand and Marianne Vos, but the Dutch trio of 20-year-olds who have dominated the podium of late were absent in the other two races. Alvarado finished fourth in last Sunday's World Cup Beekse Bergen, just 25 seconds behind the trio.

"I think the Dutch girls are the best. 'I think the Dutch girls are the best,' said Alvarado. I don't blame them for saying that. But I don't blame them for saying so.'

The Dominican rider is a two-time Dutch cyclocross champion, winning in the U23 category in 2019 and as an elite rider the following season.In the 2019-2020 season, she broke out in the elite category, winning national titles, European and world titles. After that, it was two years of turmoil.

Shortly before winning the women's elite world title in early February 2020 in Dubendorf, Switzerland, Alvarado signed a four-year contract extension with Alpecin Phoenix (now Alpecin Deceuninck), where she began her professional cyclocross career in 2018. The Dutchwoman, who was only 21 at the time, had amassed a strong collection of elite wins, including five Dutch National Championships, five wins in the DVV Trophy Series, three of her six podiums in the Super Prestige Series, and the Coxsayde World Cup.

That year she finished second in the third World Cup Waterloo of the season. In the next four World Cup races, she finished ninth or better and won a silver medal at the European Championships in Namur.

"I will never forget my first win. I'll never forget my first win. That was very special, and now I'm experiencing it," Alvarado told Wielerfritz after his win in Neel. 'The form is good, so I'm hoping for a little bit more. But I'm very happy when it happens."

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