Fem van Empel and Eli Iserbyt forced to miss Gavere World Cup following injuries

It has been a very mixed week for Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal, who seemed to be on the path to recover their two leaders, but will be seeing them both absent in the upcoming World Cup round in Gavere. Fem van Empel and Eli Iserbyt are still forced to take some time off to recover from their injuries in Val di Sole.

The snowy course saw several crashes, however the Belgian team has suffered the most. Fem van Empel abandoned the race and will miss the upcoming races in Gavere and Heusden-Zolder, hence prematurely ending the time with the team, as she is moving away to Jumbo-Visma from the 1st of January onwards.

She remains in the lead of the World Cup, however will see it reduced likely as Puck Pieterse will be racing. Van Empel suffered a slight concussion and bruising in her knees as a result of the incident.

As for Eli Iserbyt his injuries were not publicly discussed, however his abandon following the Val di Sole crash indicated a possible knee or thigh injury. He travelled to Spain together with his teammates however for some training, but will not be racing in Gavere. The World Cup victory hence becomes a virtually unreachable goal taking into consideration the points he's lost and will not take this upcoming Monday.