Fem van Empel claimed a hat trick of 2024-2025 UCI Cyclocross World Cup victories in Sunday’s seventh round on a cold, muddy, slippery course in Besançon, France. Marianne Vos came fifth in her season debut, while runner-up Lucinda Brand extended her lead at the top of the elite women’s classification.
Earlier in the day, Canada’s Rafaelle Carrier was sixth in the Junior women’s race but kept the category lead by 15 points.
Preliminaries
Lucinda Brand increased her lead atop the classification Thursday in Gavere, where Fem van Empel won her seventh race of the campaign. Marianne Vos was making her season debut. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado missed the last round. Puck Pieterse took the round off.
Zoe Backstedt claimed the hole shot on Lap 1 but Marie Schreiber soon took over. Schreiber crashed early and van Empel led. Vos had to make her way up through the string. Soon van Empel and Backstedt were ahead of Brand and Kata Blanka Vas. Van Empel dropped Backstedt, who found company in Brand and Vas. The world champion had an 11-second gap after the first circuit.
Vos fought her way into the top-10 by Lap 2 of 5. The chasing trio closed in on van Empel. All four hopped on fresh bikes. Van Empel pursuers seemingly missed the opportunity to pull her back, as everyone struggled to control their machines. The woman in the rainbow jersey crossed the line 12 seconds ahead of Brand and Vas and 27 seconds faster than Backstedt.
Everyone continued to pit at every chance on Lap 3. Vos was on her own trying to catch Backstedt. Despite chasing hard, Vas and Brand lost ground on the middle circuit and trailed by nearly a half minute.
Backstedt couldn’t resist Vos at the beginning of the penultimate lap. However, Brand and Vas seemed to have their podiums secured, even after Brand dumped her chasemate.
Inge van der Heijden bridged to Vos and Backstedt at the start of the bell lap. Vos lit out on her own, but Backstedt sewed up the gap and then prevailed in the sprint. Brand hasn’t finished off the podium in 19 races this season, and it was Blanka Vas’ first podium of the season. The crowd was satisfied with two French women in the top 10.
The next round is January 5 in Dendermonde, Belgium.
2024-2025 UCI World Cup Round 8, Besançon
1) Fem van Empel (The Netherlands/Visma-Lease a Bike) 52:45
2) Lucinda Brand (The Netherland/Baloise-Trek Lions) +0:37
3) Kata Blanka Vas (Hungary/SD Worx-Protime) +1:02
