Following her latest victory in Koksijde, van Empel admitted to feeling the effects of the busy period, attempting to laugh off rumours of her knee injury. “I'll need some new knees at the end of the season I think,” she joked.
Van Empel will miss the Dutch National Championships during her absence, whilst her return to action is pencilled in for the Benidorm leg of the UCI
World Cup on the 21st of January. The ultimate goal of her season remains retaining her cyclocross World Championship title.