World champion Fem van Empel (Visma-Lease A Bike) soloed to her second win of the 2024-25 cyclocross season in the first round of the X2O Trofee, the Koppenbergcross.
"This is my favourite race of the entire season," Van Empel said later, according to WielerFlits. "It's great that I can win for the third time in a row. It feels great, I worked hard for it and I'm happy with it.
"Maybe I wanted to silence the critics," she added after she was asked about a winless streak during her previous three starts this season. "But I didn't say anything; I responded with the pedals."
The podium hit the front of the race right from the start of the four-lap event, with Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and Annemarie Worst (Reds) also up there initially as the quintet proved the strongest riders from the starting peloton.
On the opening lap, it was Brand who pushed on at the front, provoking another split as she took Van Empel and Casasola with her. However, Italian champion Casasola, en route to her third podium of the year, couldn't live with the pace and had to let go, too.
Brand, who has twice won the X2O Trofee but never triumphed on the Koppenberg, also slipped away from the front of the race at the end of the lap as Van Empel put on the pace over the top of the famous cobbled climb.
For Van Empel, the experience was nothing new after victories in 2022 (by 52 seconds) and 2023 (by 1:50). She continued to pull out an advantage during the second lap, where it was already clear she'd be on course for a third win in a row.
At the start of the closing lap, she had 28 seconds on Brand while Casasola lay 1:08 adrift. Around 30 seconds further back, Vas was battling to hold off Worst for fourth place.
The Hungarian would just about manage it, finishing two minutes off the charging Van Empel, who completed the race in under 40 minutes, and five seconds up on Worst.
Brand and Casasola raced home solo to fill out the podium, while a distant sixth place was scored by Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) with a deficit of four minutes.
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