Fem van Empel doesn't panic after a dry streak of three cyclocrosses without a win: "We knew it would be very difficult to match that"

Fem van Empel was close to round off a 'Perfect Season' in the field last winter, winning 19 out of 21 crosses she attended. After such dominance, the expectations of public were naturally sky-high. Yet with four races in the books, Van Empel has only one victory to her name. To clarify, the results of the 22-year-old Visma | Lease a Bike all-rounder are nevertheless great - finishing on podium in all of her races.

"Her level is definitely good at the moment," her team manager Jan Boven tells WielerFlits. "Of course people can compare with last year, but that was something extraordinary. We knew it would be very difficult to match that."

Yet Van Empel is asked a lot of questions about her current form. So many questions that sometimes there is even some irritation. "Do you think I lost?" the Dutchwoman shot back to a journalist after her second place in Overijse. "It is not at all bad that I lose a race. I have ridden four races and I have always been on the podium. I know what I am doing and I am at peace with this result."

That Van Empel is now slightly less than last season is therefore taken into account, according to her entourage. "We have made a different planning than last year. We have also learned from last year. We are now training a bit more extensively. We think more in the long term and are less concerned with the current crosses. Are we already working on the campaign on the road? Certainly, that is one of the reasons why we are doing this," says Boven.

"She knows what the big goal is, then it is less difficult. But losing is of course never as much fun when you are a winner." After the European Championships, Van Empel will focus more on training work, in order to be at his best again for the first round of the World Cup. "Then we will do a big block. Then follows a very long period until the World Championships in which we have to be good," Boven concludes.