Cyclocross World Champion Fem van Empel has a jam-packed schedule for the remainder of 2023 with four more World Cups and eight total appearances left to come before January 2, as confirmed by Jumbo-Visma to WielerFlits.
Van Empel has been supreme in the off-road discipline this season, winning all eight races she’s started. The Dutchwoman has in fact won her last 13 races in a streak that extends back to January 15 when she missed out on the Dutch national title to Puck Pieterse.
The 21-year-old returned to competition with a win at X2O Trofee Kortrijk despite crashing in the early stages, opting to ride in Belgium rather than make the trip to Ireland for today’s World Cup. That theme continues in her remaining 2023 programme with seven of the eight races in Belgium and the only other in her home Netherlands.
“The focus is more on the X2O Trophy and less on the World Cup and Superprestige,” said Van Empel after her victory in Kortrijk. “I have made choices before the season and I want to stick to them, so I will ride a large part of the X2O classification.
“I'm still young so prefer to ride once per weekend. That's why I'm skipping a few races, also because I want to focus on training for my development. Unfortunately, that comes with choices, I would have preferred to ride everywhere.”
Fem van Empel’s 2023 cyclocross schedule
- December 2 - Superprestige Boom
- December 16 - X2O Trofee Herentals
- December 17 - UCI World Cup Namen
- December 23 – UCI World Cup Antwerp
- December 26 – UCI World Cup Gavere
- December 27 – Superprestige Heusden-Zolder
- December 30 – UCI World Cup Hulst
- January 1 – X2O Trofee Baal/GP Sven Nys
After the Superprestige round in Boom, the multi-discipline rider will head to Spain for a training camp with her road teammates as she gears up for the 2024 season, meaning she will miss out on the Exact Cross in Essen and the World Cup in Val di Sole.
Next weekend’s race in Boom is set to be a huge one for the women’s cyclocross scene as all of Van Empel, Pieterse, Shirin van Anrooij and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado will be present for the first time since the World Cup in Waterloo where Van Empel was victorious.
The 2024 section of Van Empel’s calendar is yet to be confirmed, but a title defence of her rainbow jersey can be expected in Tabor in February.
One thing that is certain is that her team name will have changed by then, as the Dutch side becomes Visma-Lease a Bike for the upcoming season. At the X2O Trofee in Baal, her kit won’t change as the World Champion's jersey of course has priority, but we should get a look at how the new sponsors will appear on the kit.
