Fem van Empel (Visma-Lease a Bike) has been sidelined from racing again due to an ongoing illness that saw her pull out of the X2O Trofee Oudenaarde - Koppenbergcross on November 1.
The reigning cyclocross World Champion then had to make the difficult decision not to start the X2O Trofee Lokeren - Rapencross on November 2, nor the elite women's race at the UEC Cyclocross European Championships on November 8 in Middelkerke.
"Fem van Empel will not participate in the European Cyclocross Championships in Middelkerke this weekend," Visma-Lease a Bike confirmed on Wednesday.
"She is currently not fit enough to compete and will spend the coming period training in Spain."
Van Empel won the elite women's title at the UEC Cyclocross European Championships for three years in a row - Namur (2022), Pontchateau (2023), and Pontevedra (2024) - and so would have been the favourite for a fourth consecutive victory.
She had a strong start to the season with two victories at Kiremko Nacht van Woerden and Exact Cross Heerderstrand, both in October in the Netherlands, and seemed to be on track to carry that strength into November.
Visma-Lease a Bike have confirmed that Van Empel will continue to train at a camp in Spain, while she sits out the next weekend of competition. The team has not confirmed when she will resume her racing season.
