"I wanted to keep working on the basics and think about the long term" - Fem van Empel prepares for road season but continues to thrive in cyclocross

Fem van Empel remains unbeatable this cyclocross season and it goes back almost 12 months until the last time she was beaten. She is with absolute dominance the strongest woman in the field right now, but this winter she is also focusing on preparing the road season.

“I didn't sit still in Spain and was able to complete my training well. It was very nice to be able to train in nice weather. I mainly did long endurance training, with the focus on the road season," van Empel told Wielerflits, after having done a training camp which led her to skip several weeks of racing. "It is difficult to continue to do your training well during a busy cross winter, especially given the current weather conditions. Then you have to make choices. I wanted to keep working on the basics and think about the long term.”

Ambitiously, van Empel has already began thinking of the road season. This is, despite her still having plenty races to fill in this winter. She admits that cup-wise she is only focusing on the X2O Trofee however: “The World Cup is a big goal, but there are still plenty of races waiting in the coming weeks where I would like to ride at the front. Without losing sight of my training. I'm still young and would like to ride only one cross per weekend. The focus will be on the X2O Trofee.”

Hence, the decision is to limit the amount of racing and mix it with training for the road season where she expects to improve this season alongside the Elites. Cross wise X2O, the national and World Championships are likely to be her goal.