Fem van Empel has won the fourth leg of the X2O Badkamers Trofee. On the tricky course in Herentals, the 22-year-old rider from Team Visma | Lease a Bike reached the finish line solo, after getting away from her competitors on the penultimate lap. This was Van Empel’s sixth win of the cyclo-cross season so far.
From the start, Van Empel immediately revealed the aspirations with which she had come to Herentals. The reigning European champion went up the famous Skiberg first and only saw Lucinda Brand, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Annemarie Worst following in her path. On the penultimate lap, Van Empel distanced herself from her competitors, after which she was able to ride unthreatened to the finish.
“I am super happy with this,” she said after another impressive win. “I’ve been working hard in recent weeks, so then it’s nice when you see results right away. On a course like this, it was key to keep the pressure on all the time. I thought if I go full on every climb, I will push the others to a gap. It was important to enter the descent first, so you could follow your own line. Because it was slippery, a mistake is easily made. Fortunately, it all went well today!”
