World Champion Fem van Empel has continued her utterly dominant start to the 2023/24 cyclocross campaign with a comfortable victory in Maasmechelen on the UCI World Cup.
Fem van Empel immediately began to assert her authority, wasting no time accelerating clear on the very first lap. The only rider being able to stay in contention being Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. At the start of lap two though, a mistake or a crash had put Alvarado far behind.
As van Empel just continued to accelerate away from the field, Alvarado was the victim of more bad luck as a shoe change saw her drop down to third behind Aniek van Alphen.
It didn't long for Alvarado to bounce back into second, but with three laps to go, van Empel was over half a minute ahead.
Another error on a day of bad luck then saw Alvarado back into third once again and requiring a bike change to start lap 5 but once again she was quickly able to catch up and then pass van Alphen, returning to second on the course.
As the bell rang for the last lap, van Empel's lead had sprung out to 1:13 over Alvarado with van Alphen a further 9 seconds behind.
A drama free final lap ensured another victory for the world champion, making it five from five to start the 23/24 campaign.
Also read
Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado romps to first victory of the season at Superprestige Ruddervoorde
"We were just talking about it in the tent: all three of us don't understand it" - Lars van der Haar left confused by second placed finish at Superprestige Ruddervoorde
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