"The moment we doubt, Shirin comes with a lot of speed" - How Fem van Empel's winning streak was ended

Fem van Empel has been riding a breakthrough season to tremendous success. She's been virtually unbeatable this year, however yesterday in the fast track at Beekse Bergen she wasn't the best, as Shirin van Anrooij rode toher first World Cup win.

“Puck [Pieterse] and I looked at each other a little too much. The moment we doubt, Shirin comes with a lot of speed. You can still catch that, but we didn't and so we had to ride a final the entire lap," van Empel told Wielerflits.

The trio had ridden clear of the rest, and close to the final the Baloise - Trek Lions rider went clear. As in Maasmechelen, the trio of young riders was above the rest, but this time van Anrooij had the best out of van Empel and Pieterse. Van Empel sprinted to second place, extending her lead in the cup however as her main rivals could not finish in front.

“If my sand passage had been a little better, we would have been back at the wheel," she continued. "Then the course starts from zero again, but my sand passage was not good. Then you know it's going to be difficult, although I was surprised how close we came." Van Empel will have the chance to return to her winning ways in Overijse this next Sunday.