Cyclocross cyclist Van Empel dreamed of Bayern Munich, but now goes to Tábor with a motorhome

If Fem van Empel had known more than three years ago that she would be traveling to the Czech Republic in a motorhome this weekend to compete in a cyclocross world cup competition, she would have been scratching her head.

She dreamed of a professional football career, didn’t she? Did she ever want to play for Bayern Munich? “It’s a little weird. Unrealistic too.”

Van Empel, 20, finds it particularly bizarre that she is already one of the best in cross-country. In fact, at the start of the season, there are already four victories behind his name. And all this in an activity that she has always loved, but only to maintain her condition during the winter break. If there was no football match scheduled.

She could never have imagined that she could beat Marianne Vos and Lucinda Brand, that the teams would line up in front of her and that she would lead a World Cup ranking at the age of 20.

It was no more than “fun” when the Brabançonne decided to take part in the Dutch National Mountain Bike Championships in the summer of 2019. She didn’t even have a suitable bike for that. “I bought it for this game. I knew nothing, I didn’t know anyone and suddenly I became third among the promises! I hadn’t trained for it at all. I walked off the football field in a no time.”

This football ground is located in Nuenen, half an hour drive from his hometown Den Dungen. “It’s close to Den Bosch. People know him better as Maaskantje from the movie New Kids.”

In Nuenen, she played for the local RKSV, a Dutch top league team. “I had a good time there. It went well too. I was a striker. When the ball got in front of the goal I was always fast. The plan was to become a football pro, but after this third place on the mountain bike I had to choose.”

She chose what she liked the most, for what itchy the most. And it turned out to be both wheels. They also play a part in the rest of his family. “My father was cycling, my cousin Micky too. He rode for Telenet, in the Sven Nys team. And my uncle Ad founded the Empella Cycling brand.”

Once the choice was made – she signed her first cyclo-cross contract in early 2021 – she wanted to take it seriously. And that included training. “But I didn’t know what to do with training. Nobody at our house. My father still had information about someone, so we called him: Aschwin van Oorschot. I had a good click straight away with him. He had me in a few years from being a football star to a cyclocross cyclist.”

And now among the best of all. In the opening races in the United States over the last two weekends, all of the world’s top were present, except for Marianne Vos and Blanka Vas. And Van Empel won twice. Ceylin Alvarado and Lucinda Brand, two former world champions, were not engaged in a direct duel.

“It takes some getting used to,” continues Van Empel, who also completed marketing and communications training in 2021 between trainings. “Do you have to speak to the press immediately after a game. Sometimes I don’t know what to say in Dutch, let alone in English. And there is pressure immediately. It’s difficult. I’m still young. it was better to stay a bit under the radar, with occasional outliers.”

But the latter was not an option with his talent. Knowing that her contract with Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal expires at the end of December, she has received one offer after another this year.

“A luxury problem, I had to choose the teams. I hesitated for a long time between SD Worx and Jumbo-Visma. In terms of support, they offer almost the same thing. There were pluses and minuses. But I still couldn’t figure it out.”

“The Jumbo material station is 3 kilometers from my house and we already knew a lot of people from Jumbo. That was the decisive factor. They also have a lot of experience with men. They can easily transfer that to women.”

With Vos, eight times world champion, she will soon have the best teacher at her side. “Do we have a lot of contact? It’s not too bad. I inquired with her about Jumbo-Visma and it was good that she confirmed what I already knew.”

Last season, Fem van Empel beat Marianne Vos at the Val di Sole snowcross and won her first World Cup race. Afterwards, Vos praised his young compatriot.