"Maybe the best battle of this season" - Fem van Empel thrilled to add another major jersey to growing cyclocross palmares at European Championship

Fem van Empel continues to dominate at the biggest races on the women's cyclocross calendar. At the 2024 European Championships though, the Dutch superstar was made to work very hard for her success.

''I'm actually very happy with this one. It was a very tough race and maybe the best battle of this season," reflected a thrilled Van Empel afterwards having outsprinted compatriots Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Lucinda Brand in a thrilling finale to the race on Sunday afternoon in Spain. "In this cross a jersey was at stake and I like that. I kept fighting the whole race and it means a lot that I won it."

After an admittedly lesser start to this winter, Van Empel seems to have hit her best form at the right time. With another peak still hoped for later in the campaign though, she isn't going to try for too much too soon. "I'm going to rest and train now, so I think I'll be back in two weeks," she concludes. "The World Championship is of course the big goal, but let's see how it goes per month."