New year, new team, unknown wheels, but the same winning ways immediately despite a slew of new gear to get used to
Fem van Empel's Cervelo R5-CX(Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
Cyclocross consistently produces top-quality talent on the road. Vos, Ferrand-Prévot, Van Aert, Van der Poel, Pidcock, Stybar. Heck, even Pogacčar has been national cyclocross champion. While victory in the world of ‘cross is exceptional in its own right, it also signposts the possible future stars of the road too. It’s probably fair to say Fem van Empel fits that brief.
She’s currently leading the World Cup standings, having taken six victories already and coming second in all the races she didn't win but still lined up for. Her World Cup lead is even more impressive when you consider that she crashed out of the Val di Sole race and was stretchered off, effectively missing that round and the following race in Gavere. A star for the future? Scratch that, make it a star for now.
With the dawn of a new year comes, for many riders, the official swap to new teams and, with it, new sponsors. Fem has signed for Jumbo-Visma for the 2023 season on a two-year contract, and while this means she’s destined to hit the smooth stuff in the coming months, there’s still the immediate task at hand of rounding out the cyclocross season on new equipment.
Not a bad way to kick off the New Year, all things considered. Especially not on all new gear (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
New year; new machine
In 2022, Van Empel rode for Pauwels Sauzen - Bingoal aboard a Shimano-equipped Ridley. For 2023 though, the move to Jumbo-Visma means hopping aboard the relatively new Cervelo R5-CX, now running Sram (Jumbo-Visma were also a Shimano team last year).
Has this drastic change held her back? No, not really. She won her first race aboard the new bike at the GP Sven Nys in Baal, so we thought we’d better take a deeper look at the custom blue steed of the European Champion.
Sram means one thing for cyclocross: 1x setups. The jury is still out as to whether it’s better or not for cyclocross, but Sram has been a player at the top level for many years now, kitting out the Baloise Trek Lions for several seasons, and it’s not exactly held them back. While we can't see a chain keeper in the picture, we suspect it’s hidden behind the crank arm; we’ve seen the same setup on Wout’s bike.
The bike was designed in collaboration with both Wout Van Aert and Marianne Vos, and it's claimed that they both requested a D-shaped seatpost. This provides a little extra compliance, but the main benefit is that, in a crash, the saddle remains facing forwards.
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Moving to Sram means moving to a 1X drivetrain. We also think there's a chain keeper hidden behind the cranks as per Wout's bike (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
The D-shaped seatpost stops it rotating in the event of a crash (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
A Wahoo Elemnt Rival watch tracks van Empel's stats. (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
Last year, Van Aert opted for aero Pro bars, but now the Jumbo CX componentry is supplied by FSA, who don't offer an aero carbon bar, so old school round profiles it is for Van Empel (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
Sponsor-incorrect details... maybe
Things get more intriguing when it comes to the wheels. Jumbo-Visma are sponsored by Reserve wheels, who don’t make a tubular wheelset. Cyclocross is a sport where, at the top level at least, tubular tyres are exclusively used. This means that Fem (and the rest of the team) is either using a rebadged set from a different manufacturer or that Reserve is producing a pro-only set just for Jumbo to allow the riders to use the Dugast tubs. We reached out to Cervelo and Reserve for comment, and received confirmation that the wheels are indeed Reserve designed tubulars, 36mm deep up front and 39mm at the rear.
You'd also be forgiven for thinking the Dugast tubular tyres are a sponsor-incorrect piece, given the brand is sponsored by Vittoria. However, Dugast was bought out by Vittoria in the spring of 2021. For muddy conditions, the Rhino tread is favoured, but this will obviously change depending on the course.
Away from the bike, there are some other noteworthy things. Jumbo are sponsored by Wahoo this season, which means Speedplay pedals and Wahoo computers. Cyclocross riders opt for watches rather than computers as the regular bike swaps mean a computer would have to be transferred. Fem is using the Wahoo Elemnt Rival watch.
Wahoo doesn’t manufacture shoes or pedals, and as such, Shimano pedals can be seen attached to the cranks, and a pair of blue S-Phyre shoes are attached to her feet. Given how muddy ‘cross is, these are usually covered up in the first lap anyway. Keeping her eyes clear is a pair of Oakley Radar EV sunglasses, Oakley also being a new sponsor of the team for 2022, having moved away from team Ineos.
The tyres are Dugast Rhino tubulars, though these will change depending on the conditions. Dugast is now owned by Vittoria so these are technically sponsor correct (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
These wheels are badged as Reserve, but to our knowledge Reserve doesn't make a tubular wheelset. This means these are either rebadged from competitors, or a pro-only model (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
Oakley are another new sponsor for the team. Here Fem is using the Radar EV model (Image credit: Jumbo-Visma)
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Will joined the Cyclingnews team as a reviews writer in 2022, having previously written for Cyclist, BikeRadar and Advntr. There are very few types of cycling he's not dabbled in, and he has a particular affection for older bikes and long lasting components. Road riding was his first love, before graduating to racing CX in Yorkshire. He's been touring on a vintage tandem all the way through to fixed gear gravel riding and MTB too. When he's not out riding one of his many bikes he can usually be found in the garage tinkering with another of them, or getting obsessive about tyres. Also, as he doesn't use Zwift, he's our go-to guy for bad weather testing... bless him.
Rides: Custom Zetland Audax, Bowman Palace:R, Peugeot Grand Tourisme Tandem, Falcon Explorer Tracklocross, Fairlight Secan & Strael
