16/12/2023

Sprint finish sees Fem van Empel wins X2O Badkamers Trofee Herentals; Lucinda Brand comes close to defeating World Champion

A crash and illness in the last few days were not enough to hamper Fem van Empel from continuing her winning streak. The World Champion has won in Herentals this afternoon, but it was her toughest win of the season just ahead of Lucinda Brand.

The race in Herentals had two clear favourites in Lucinda Brand and Fem van Empel. Under normal circumstances the latter was the woman to beat, but a crash and slight illness earlier this week put a dent into her form. Nevertheless as the race started the two launched small attacks, followed by Annemarie Worst. The track's dry conditions made it difficult to create gaps right away.

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The two Dutchwomen were very close to each other and although van Empel got a strong gap on lap 2, it was closed and two rode into the final lap still together.

Van Empel attacked in the technical section on the final lap and got a gap, but that was closed by Brand a few minutes after. Brand then made a mistake in a downhill section close to the finish but managed to get to the World Championships wheel into the final straight. In a sprint finale van Empel launched first but had the legs to close it off in an exciting finale. Annemarie Worst rode to third place on the day.