Fem van Empel powers to yet another dominant victory in Lille

Team Visma | Lease a Bike's Fem van Empel has made it 19 victories for the winter with the latest triumph coming at the X2O Trofee in Lille.

Although Lucinda Brand was able to stay with the initial attacks of Fem van Empel, on the second lap it seemed like the world champion had finally managed to snap the elastic and break free. At the end of lap 2, the gap was 8 seconds.

As van Empel began to ride off into the distance towards another victory, Brand's second place was beginning to look under threat due to the immense efforts of Laura Verdonschot. Despite the Belgian's best attempts though, Brand held on for second.