Beaten two weeks ago in Dublin, Fem van Empel took his revenge this Saturday by winning the 4th round of the X2O Bathrooms Trophyin Herentals (Belgium). The Dutchwoman of training Visma | Lease a Bike won in front of her two compatriots Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions) and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Fenix-Deceuninck). Thanks to this success, the World Champion brings her total number of victories this season to 6 (in 10 days of racing).
Video – Fem van Empel beaten by Lucinda Brand in Dublin
The race summary
At the end of the first round, Lucinda Brand crossed the line in the lead, gaining precious bonus seconds in the fight for the general classification of the X2O Bathrooms Trophy. However, the Dutch star was not alone: she was accompanied in particular by Fem van Empel, Annemarie Worst et Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. After a cautious second round, Brand really picked up the pace in the third round. Under this pressure, Alvarado had an incident in the pits, falling while trying to quickly get back on his bike, which almost destroyed his chances of victory.
With Alvarado out of the race and Worst starting to let go, Brand et Van Empel were heading towards a duel at the top in the last two rounds. However, in the fourth round, it was the turn of Brand to encounter a difficulty, finding yourself stuck in the barriers. When Van Empel started the last round, Worst was 9 seconds behind, while Brand et Alvarado were together about 20 seconds away. Although it was impossible to catch up Van Enpel, Brand et Alvarado managed to join Worstproviding a thrilling finale to the podium battle. Eventually, Brand took second place and Alvarado the third.
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