Fem van Empel storms to elite women's title at Cyclocross World Championships

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Fem van Empel rode solo across the final three laps in Hoogerheide to win her first elite women's title at the UCI Cyclocross World Championships.

It was an all-Dutch podium with Puck Pieterse, her main adversary of the season, finishing second and 2021 World Champion Lucinda Brand in third.

Italian Silvia Persico outsprinted 2020 elite women’s World Champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado of Netherlands to take fourth place, 1:45 behind the newly-crowned champion.

The classic battle between under-23 youngsters Van Empel and Pieterse developed after a wobbly start by Pieterse, but when the Dutch national champion fell unexpectedly in a corner with three laps to go and Van Empel then hit the after-burners to ride solo to the win. 

“It feels a bit crazy. It’s an emotional victory. It’s a rewrite of a great season,” Van Empel said after the race. "It’s difficult to find the right words, so yeah, it’s a bit emotional.

"From the outside, it's hard to see how much energy I've put into this. I've been working for this for a long time. It wasn’t an easy race, but I kept working hard, and it worked out. I am incredibly grateful to my family, the fans and the team for their support.

“It was a battle with Puck. I think she crashed, or made a fall, at that moment I go full gas.”

The rainbow jersey capped her 14th victory of what has been a stunning season for the 20-year-old, the most victories for an elite woman this year. Pieterse was second with nine, and the silver medal on Saturday was her 19th podium of the year continuing her streak of a podium finish in every start this season. 

The rain ceased prior to the women’s race allowing the course to dry slightly under still cloudy skies and milder temperatures, 9 degrees Celsius.

Four rows of competitors bolted from the start grid, a cavalcade of Dutch jerseys at the front. Van Empel led Italian Persico through the first turns in the low-lying areas that were still caked in mud. Pieterse appeared to have trouble clipping in, so did not have a clean start and rode in fifth position.

Van Empel ran over the barriers with a small gap to the chasers led by Pieterse. Once across the stairs and on the finishing straight, Pieterse had joined Van Empel for the race lead, the duo of Persico and Brand trailing eight seconds back.

The quartet came together on the muddy turns in the woods on the second lap, Persico and Brand yo-yoing from time to time, Brand the first to struggle to stay intact. Four chasers pursued, all Dutch teammates, 2020 World Champion Alvarado leading the charge with the leaders in sight.

Brand made a strong charge on the third lap to overtake Persico in pursuit of the leading duo. A few slips in corners, where the grass had given way to sludge, the former world champion could not close down a gap of five seconds once another turn on the circuit began. Persico and Alvarado joined forces in the chase just under 20 seconds back, trailing another 24 seconds later by Denise Betsema, Inge van der Heijden and Annemarie Worst. Kata Vas of Hungary and Marion Norbert Riberolle of Belgium completed the top 10.

On the fourth lap, Pieterse slipped and hit the dirt in the wooded section on the front side of the course, which allowed Van Empel to pass and gain a window of five seconds. Brand used the mistake to also close her gap and moved in front of Pieterse, but only for a short time before the younger rider struck out on her own in pursuit of the lost lead.

With three laps remaining Van Empel had ignited her pace and left Pieterse in chase mode to close down 18 seconds. Brand trailed 29 seconds behind the lone leader, then Persico and Alvarado together 44 seconds back. The times did not move in favour of the chasers, however, as Van Empel added to her lead on the penultimate lap.

"A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I had confidence in myself today. I think I stayed calm when I needed to. I tried to be as consistent as possible," she said after the accepting the rainbow jersey.

"In the race's later stages, it was crucial to maintain the pressure. I think it worked well. I can now call myself a world champion, how cool is that! I don't realise it yet, but I will enjoy it."

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