Fem van Empel made a winning return to Cyclocross in c on Saturday, winning the Exact Cross by a comfortable margin.
The world champion went clear from the field on a sand section during the first lap, within four minutes into the race, and would not be seen again.
Her winning margin was ultimately 47 seconds, ahead of Marlon Norbert Riberolle in second and her Crelan-Corendon teammate Inge van der Heijden in third.
Van Empel had preceded the race with a three-week training camp, and expressed satisfaction with her form coming out of it in a post-race interview.
“It felt quite good. I was really excited for my comeback after three weeks of training. I’m happy to win.”
With sterner tests to come, starting with tomorrow’s World Cup opener in Antwerp, Van Empel isn’t getting ahead of herself just yet..
“Normally, yes”, she agreed when asked if her form was better now after the camp. “Because I did quite a lot. But we will see in the upcoming weeks how it goes.”
Van Empel initially went clear with Van der Heijden and Alicia Franck during the first clap, before her superior speed on foot to gain a gap over the sand section.
Van der Heijden was joined by Norbert Riberolle, and the two managed to hold off the rest of the pack, without making any inroads on Van Empel.
Van Empel’s lead grew steadily throughout the race, from four seconds after the first of the race’s six laps, to 13 after the second lap, 25 after the third and 42 after the fourth.
From then she appeared to ease up a little, perhaps with an eye on the first World Cup meet of the season taking place tomorrow in Antwerp.
