"I can only praise my mental toughness" - Despite crash, injury and illness, Fem van Empel comes within a whisker of thr podium at Hulst

Whilst at first glance, a fourth placed finish on Saturday at the UCI World Cup in Hulst, might seem like Fem van Empel's all-conquering powers have diminished somewhat, given the circumstances, the world champion can still take a lot of credit from her performance.

"I came off my pedal at the start. As a result, I lost some places, which meant I had to immediately give chase. I moved up a few places, but I couldn't get the real connection," recalls post-race to her team's official website. "I certainly don't want to use it as an excuse, but my body still feels far from optimal due to various discomforts."

Given van Empel came into the race already suffering some discomfort, the last thing she needed was a crash but sadly that's exactly what happened, putting her out of race-winning contention. "It is a combination of an injury to my knee and recovery from a cold. At this level you have to be 100 percent in order to be able to compete for the win," she says.

Eventually van Empel had to settle for fourth despite a brilliant chase as Puck Pieterse, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Lucinda Brand locked out the podium. "The competition is in good shape, so you won't get far at half speed. However, I can only praise my mental toughness, because I did not give up and continued to fight for it," she concludes.