Fem van Empel (Jumbo-Visma) claimed a crushing victory at the Koppenbergcross after she powered clear of her rivals on the opening lap. Torrential rain had turned the course into a mud bath, but the world champion made light of the heavy conditions to cruise to the win, 1:58 ahead of Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen–Bingoal) and 2:08 up on Anna Kay (Cyclocross Reds).
The demanding conditions made for understandably slow lap times, which meant that the race was three laps in length rather than the anticipated four, but in truth, Van Empel’s dominance was such that the Koppenbergcross was already over as a contest by the time she took the bell after half an hour of racing.
“I’m glad we only had to do three laps in the end,” said Van Empel. “It was really tough. You had to keep pushing on this course, you couldn’t slow down at all, so I drove it on quite a bit.”
A number of possible contenders, including Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck), opted against racing the Koppenbergcross with an eye to the weekend’s European Championships, and so Van Empel, already so impressive this season, was an even more resounding favourite here.
Van Empel immediately lived up to her billing, hitting the front on the opening ascent of the Koppenberg with Sanne Cant (Crelan-Corendon) for company. Once the cobblestones gave way to mud over the top, Van Empel’s strength began to tell, and she was already clear by the midpoint of the opening lap, while Betsema emerged as her closest pursuer.
After one lap, Van Empel had 24 seconds in hand on Betsema and 51 on Kim Van de Steene and Kay, and those gaps would yawn out further on the second lap.
The mud required bike changes every half lap and forced everybody, Van Empel included, to run more than they might ordinarily have anticipated, but the Dutchwoman didn’t miss a beat as she picked up her sixth win of the season.
Van Empel took the bell at the end of the second lap with a buffer of 1:15 on Betsema, 1:28 on Kay and 1:42 on Van de Steene, and she would extend that advantage on the last lap. After gliding up the Koppenberg one last time, Van Empel still had the strength to dismount and lift her bike above her head as she crossed the line.
Although it’s only the first race of the X2O Badkamers Trofee, Van Empel’s victory gives her a commanding lead in the standings, which are decided on aggregate time. The world champion will also be among the favourites to claim the European title in Pontchâteau this weekend.
“The important thing now is to recover well and then Saturday is a new day,” Van Empel said. “A championship is always a special competition. I am looking forward to that.”
Betsema managed to hold off a fast-closing Kay to take what she described as a morale-boosting second place. “The last races were very hard for me and this feels very good,” she said.
Kay, meanwhile, confessed to surprise at her podium finish. The Briton pressed clear of Van de Steene and teammate Aniek van Alphen to claim third place. “I didn’t expect it, I didn’t even bring podium shoes so it’s quite a surprise,” Kay said. “It’s a confidence-booster for the next weeks.”
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