Third Fem van Empel World Cup win despite jet lag after trip from USA

Fem van Empel also won the third cyclo-cross for the World Cup. On the fast course in Tabor, Czech Republic, six other women battled for victory in the final round. Van Empel did not give up in the sprint and won with a certain lead ahead of her compatriots Puck Pieterse and Annemarie Worst. Van Empel, just 20 and still competing for Belgium’s Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal, has already won both World Cup crosses in the United States. On January 1, the Brabançon will be transferred to Jumbo-Visma.

Van Empel said afterwards that the jet lag had played tricks on him. “My legs weren’t very well, I haven’t slept well in the last few days, she explains with a slightly defensive attitude. All I could do was follow. And then I attacked on the last slope.”

It was Pieterse who often took the lead thanks to his jumps over the beams, with five riders on the track on the last lap: four compatriots and the Hungarian Kata Blanka Vas. During the last pass over the beams, Pieterse tried to pull away. Worst and Van Empel were able to follow, after which the latter rushed into the last kilometer and recorded her third victory. “I did not expect this, but the season is still long. There will come a time when I will have to rest. (ANP)