“I lost a lot of time. But I never gave up" - Fem van Empel bravely battles to 7th on disaster day in Namur

Cyclocross
Sunday, 15 December 2024 at 15:12
femvanempel 2

It's not often cyclocross world champion Fem van Empel finishes off the podium but on Sunday afternoon at the World Cup in Namur, that was indeed the case. On a day where seemingly nothing went to plan for the Dutchwoman, Van Empel was eventually forced to settle for a 7th-placed finish.

A victim of at least three crashes caught on camera, Van Empel's quest to build up momentum was consistently halted on a course which is renowned as one of the toughest in the entire cyclocross calendar. "Maybe I was a bit too enthusiastic at the beginning. That cost me a lot of time," reflected Van Empel post-race. “I kept fighting. That’s the good thing about today. I lost a lot of time. But I never gave up, so in the end it was still good.”

In terms of the overall World Cup standings, things are far from disastrous for the Team Visma | Lease a Bike superstar. Van Empel now sits second overall, 11 points behind Lucinda Brand.

01 Alvarado Ceylin del Carmen-48:17
02 Brand Lucinda-+ 09
03 Pieterse Puck-+ 34
04 Vas Blanka-+ 57
05 Schreiber Marie-+ 01:13
06 Worst Annemarie-+ 01:23
07 van Empel Fem-+ 01:37
08 van der Heijden Inge-+ 01:51
09 Backstedt Zoe-+ 01:54
10 Bentveld Leonie-+ 02:12
11 Casasola Sara-+ 02:33
12 Bakker Manon-+ 02:50
13 Verdonschot Laura-+ 02:55
14 Fouquenet Amandine-+ 03:24
15 Clauzel Hélène-+ 03:39
16 van Alphen Aniek-+ 03:56
17 Betsema Denise-+ 04:09
18 Borello Carlotta-+ 04:14
19 Carrier Rafaelle-+ 04:15
20 Franck Alicia-+ 04:17
21 Norbert Riberolle Marion-+ 04:39
22 Baroni Francesca-+ 04:42
23 Gery Célia-+ 04:58
24 Hartog Larissa-+ 05:02
25 Kay Anna-+ 05:15
26 Brandau Elisabeth-+ 05:41
27 Brouwers Julie-+ 05:47
28 Ferguson Cat-+ 06:01
29 Gariboldi Rebecca-+ 06:18
30 McGill Sidney-+ 06:37
31 Jerabkova Bara-+ 06:54
32 Peeters Jinse-+ 07:01
33 Clauzel Perrine-+ 07:04
34 Bramati Lucia-+ 07:20
35 Gallezot Electa-+ 07:41
36 Van Sinaey Xaydee-+ 07:57
37 Lechner Eva-+ 08:23
38 Douderova Katerina-+ 08:26
39 Lisbygd Ann-Dorthe-+ 08:31

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