Fem Van Empel dominates at the GP Sven Nys

Fem Van Empel made her debut with Jumbo-Visma at the GP Sven Nys and immediately won the first cyclocross race of 2023, confirming her fat tyre talents. 

Van Empel raced in her European champion’s jersey rather than Jumbo-Visma’s standout yellow and had a new, SRAM-equipped, custom-coloured Cervelo R5-CX to match. While her rivals struggled in the heavy mud and on the rolling course in Baal, Van Empel appeared to cruise through the difficulties.

Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Loins) lost around 30 seconds to Van Empel on each lap but fought to finish second at 2:00. Ceylin Del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was third at 2:27.

US national champion Clara Honsinger was an impressive sixth at 3:36. Zoe Backstedt (EF Education-Tibco-SVB) was eighth at 4:54. Madigan Munro (Trek Factory Racing) of the USA finished strong to take tenth. 

Van Empel was not the first out of the start but soon hit the front and took control. 

On a key off-camber section, she was able to stay in the saddle and keep one foot in the pedals, where Carmen Alvarado struggled and all her rivals lost time.

From there Van Empel continued to gain time lap after lap, using her advantage to manage her own performance. The thick mud and slow conditions made it impossible to bunny-jump the barriers but Van Empel used her bike skills to handle every difficulty.

She had not raced since crashing hard at the Val di Sole World Cup, but immediately impressed on her return.

"I'm shocked that I finished with such a lead because I took a break," she said. "I was at the start without pressure and did not have to give the full 100%. I was looking forward to a battle, so I had to make something beautiful out of it myself."

Van Empel will not target the overall classification in the X20 Badkamers Trofee because she has several other goals in 2023.

"I have a road season ahead of me and some mountain biking, so I prefer to focus only on the World Championships," she confirmed.