"I trusted my form of the last few weeks" - Fem van Empel puts to bed injury concerns with emphatic victory in Gavere
Cyclocross
For the 7th time this winter, cyclocross world champion Fem van Empel crossed the line with her arms aloft in celebration this Boxing Day, dominating a world class field of starters at the World Cup in Gavere.
Although only Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado was absent from the world leaders, the likes of Lucinda Brand, Puck Pieterse, Blanka Kata Vas and Zoe Backstedt couldn't live with a rampant Van Empel performing somewhere near her very best. After attacking clear solo on lap 2, the Visma star wasn't seen again easing to a clear victory as Brand and Pieterse completed the podium.
"This feels really good. I haven't been able to do much the past few days, but I'm super happy with this victory on this beautiful course," Van Empel reflected in her immediate post-race interview, putting to bed some recent injury concerns. "I trusted my form of the last few weeks and there was nothing wrong with that. So there was no reason to panic. My knee pain was not completely gone, but it was good enough to start. And hopefully my knee will recover completely now."
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| 01 | van Empel Fem | - | 52:24 |
| 02 | Brand Lucinda | - | + 37 |
| 03 | Pieterse Puck | - | + 46 |
| 04 | Vas Blanka | - | + 01:36 |
| 05 | Backstedt Zoe | - | + 02:06 |
| 06 | van der Heijden Inge | - | + 02:18 |
| 07 | Norbert Riberolle Marion | - | + 02:30 |
| 08 | Bakker Manon | - | + 02:56 |
| 09 | Schreiber Marie | - | + 03:25 |
| 10 | Betsema Denise | - | + 03:35 |
| 11 | van Alphen Aniek | - | + 04:36 |
| 12 | Bentveld Leonie | - | + 04:49 |
| 13 | Crabbe Kiona | - | + 05:05 |
| 14 | Brouwers Julie | - | + 05:21 |
| 15 | Kay Anna | - | + 05:26 |
| 16 | Maclean-Howell Ella | - | + 05:30 |
| 17 | Van Sinaey Xaydee | - | + 05:44 |
| 18 | Mani Caroline | - | + 05:54 |
| 19 | Lopez De San Roman Vida | - | + 05:55 |
| 20 | Wolff Imogen | - | + 06:06 |
| 21 | Gonzalez Blanco Lucia | - | + 06:21 |
| 22 | Bunea Wendy | - | + 06:30 |
| 23 | De Beer Jamie | - | + 06:59 |
| 24 | Clouse Katie | - | + 07:15 |
| 25 | Borghesi Letizia | - | + 07:19 |
| 26 | Lisbygd Ann-Dorthe | - | + 07:38 |
| 27 | Baroni Francesca | - | + 07:51 |
| 28 | Van De Steene Kim | - | + 07:52 |
| 29 | Sarkisov Katherine | - | + 07:52 |
| 30 | Nuss Raylyn | - | + 08:21 |
| 31 | Peeters Jinse | - | + 08:46 |
| 32 | Rodriguez Revert Sofia | - | + 08:49 |
| 33 | Cueto Vega Sara | - | + 09:23 |
VAN EMPEL IS BACK 🔥🌈 Fem van Empel puts together a dominant performance on a BRUTAL Gavere course at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Gavere! pic.twitter.com/zDZId9twoj
— Eurosport (@eurosport) December 26, 2024
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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Rafionain-Glas02-11-2026 - Welcome to the off-season.
santiagobenites02-11-2026 - guillaume martin in this list is quite a surprise as a gc rider.Ketterechts02-11-2026
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- i am sure that under the pretext of medical examination a lot worse has happened when they were under.abstractengineer02-11-2026
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