No European Cyclocross Championships for world champion Fem van Empel

The long-expected has been confirmed on Wednesday. Fem van Empel abandoned the Koppenbergcross after just half a lap last weekend, leaving fans in doubt about her reason for that and whether she would still participate in the European Cyclocross Championships in Middelkerke on Saturday. For the latter, we have received an answer and it's a negative one. The world champion is not fully ready to race yet and will have a different programme this weekend.

"Van Empel is also not competitive enough to participate in the European Championships this weekend," her team Visma | Lease a Bike wrote in a statement. "She has chosen to complete a training period in Spain."

After her DNF the Koppenbergcross, Vam Empel has opted to skip the following day's X2O Trophy round in Lokeren, boosting question marks surrounding her physical state.

This was partially addressed by her team in the press release, suggesting that Van Empel may still have been feeling the after-effects of a previous illness, her team explained. Therefore stepping off her bicycle was a choice of brain to preserve her body for races that will come later into the winter without burning all the matches by going over-the-limit already at the start of November.