Coaches amazed by Fem van Empel's improvement from race to race: "She’s gaining momentum this way"

Fem van Empel will be back in cyclocross action this weekend. The iconic citadel in Namur will once again witness epic cyclocross battles on an iconic Walloon climb. The current European & World Champion chose to skip the World Cup in Sardinia last week, but now is eager to get going again.

"I actually enjoyed it like this," she said with a laugh in Dublin. "But it’s a conscious choice to take another training period now, to recharge a bit." And what about not winning the last race before her break? "I’ve podiumed in every race, so I don’t think that’s bad," she countered in an interview after her second place in Dublin.

She's won 5 of the 9 competitons she participated in this year, never to finish worse than third. After the World Cup in Dublin, Fem van Empel skipped the competitions of last week to complete some extra training in Spain.

One of her massive assets is unmatched bike technique. Van Empel leaves no openings for her competitors by making her own technical mistakes. "Absolutely, and we’re working really hard on that," confirms Visma | Lease a Bike coach Jan Boven in an interview for IDLProCycling.com. "Fem is one of those athletes who has to make the difference with minimal margins, so sometimes you tell her: try this, take that line, and then apply it during the race."

"Confidence is key because without it, you won’t ride the right lines anyway," Boven continues. "Ultimately, it’s a mix of coaching, teamwork, thoroughly scouting the course, analyzing your strengths, and so on."

National coach Gerben De Knegt sees the talented Dutchwoman gradually improve every time he sees her. "She regularly comes to those cyclo-cross training sessions in Alphen, and you can see she’s still progressing. She’s also planned her peak a bit later this season, and so far, it seems to be working well, so maybe she’s building momentum this way. You can see she’s strong and confident. That’s where it all starts. Fem is still very young, of course, but she’s increasingly aware of where she wants to go. She chooses a plan and sticks to it."