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 |