Fem van Empel won the World Cup Cyclocross in Fayetteville, USA. The only 20-year-old from Brabant drove a very strong race and beat Lucinda Brand and Annemarie Worst with a sharp sprint.
Last week Van Empel was also the best at the first World Cup competition in Waterloo, USA.
Last January, Marianne Vos became world champion for the eighth time on the course in Arkansas financed by the owners of the supermarket chain Walmart. This year, Vos is conspicuous by his absence from the first World Cup competitions in the USA.
Vos has a worthy successor in Van Empel, who will be on the road for Jumbo-Visma next season. Or better competitor. Van Empel also had some catching up to do in Fayetteville, having lost her U23 world title to Puck Pieterse in January.
After the first round it was already clear that the second World Cup match between the Dutch leaders would also take place. Van Empel and Brand were there from the start, initially with Ceylin Alvarado, Annemarie Worst, Denise Betsema and Inge van der Heijden.
Betsema looked strong but had material problems and lost touch with the front. Betsema was able to link up with Worst and Van der Heijden, limiting the damage to Van Empel and Brand.
At the front, Van Empel cleared Brand on the penultimate lap with a skillful jump over the bars while Brand shouldered the obstacle with his bike. However, Van Empel did not drive at full speed and Brand was able to return.
When the bell rang, Betsema, Worst and Van der Heijden rejoined. Van Empel repeated her trick on the bars and drove ahead of her opponent, but Brand caught up again.
Shortly before the end, Worst was able to join the group and so it was an exciting three-way sprint. Brand took the lead in the winding section, was the first to start the short final sprint, but was clearly beaten by her young compatriot.
| Mrs Van Empel | 80 points |
| Lucinda brand | 55 points |
| Ceylin Alvarado | 50 points |
| Annemarie Worst | 46 points |
| Denise Betsema | 44 points |
Alvarado, who finished second last week, was thrown back even further by a stuttering accelerator but didn’t give up and eventually fought his way up to sixth place.
The French Hélène Clauzel was the first non-Dutch woman to take seventh place.
Source:NOS
I’m Maxine Reitz, a journalist and news writer at 24 Instant News. I specialize in health-related topics and have written hundreds of articles on the subject. My work has been featured in leading publications such as The New York Times, The Guardian, and Healthline. As an experienced professional in the industry, I have consistently demonstrated an ability to develop compelling stories that engage readers.
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