NOS Cycling•today, 06:00
Cyclo-cross means plowing through the mud, sliding on the slope and shivering in the winter cold with mud on your cheeks. This weekend the riders will compete for the European title at a temperature of 24 degrees in the Spanish sun.
The rainbow stripes on her helmet reveal her status as world champion. In addition to the world title, Fem van Empel also won the European title in the past two years.
On Sunday she can complete the hat trick on the lightning-fast course in summer Pontevedra, a leafy town on the Galician coast. “Hat tricks, that’s what I was always good at when I was a football player.”
Van Empel goes for European hat-trick in the field, despite criticism: ‘Let them chatter’
“Fast, a bit technical, short start, explosive,” Van Empel summarizes. “I think it should suit me. The difficult thing about this course is that those behind you have a lot of advantage. They are long straight stretches. I expect it to remain a large group. I would have preferred the Koppenberg as European Championship.”
After two years in which she dominated the cross and only allowed Puck Pieterse (absent at this European Championship) near her every now and then, her season has been a bit difficult so far. Of the five cyclo-cross races in which she started, Van Empel managed to win ‘only’ two.
Immediately, people started speculating about her shape. “Just let them talk about it. I know what I’m doing. My goals are different this year, I want to peak at slightly different times.”
Lucinda Brand was the only one who managed to beat Van Empel twice this early season. It will not be a battle of attrition, as Brand likes it, in Pontevedra. “What has already been said about the course?”, she asks with a scornful laugh. “There could have been a little more in it. A little more, what? Challenge.”
“This weekend was a peak moment for me. I don’t think I’m far from my best form ever,” Brand continues. “It is very difficult to make a difference here, I think. The speed is a challenge, but then the rest will follow. You shouldn’t make mistakes, I think.”
But can she also beat competitors such as Van Empel, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado or the Italian Sara Casasola in a sprint? “Phew. I guess I’ll just have to dream about that one more night.”
Actually, as usual, the women would ride their championship on Saturday. But to enable them to also ride the Koppenbergcross on Friday, their race was moved to Sunday.
That Superprestige competition on the famous cobblestone climb near Oudenaarde produced two Dutch winners: Van Empel triumphed among the women, Lars van der Haar among the men.
Van der Haar can grab his third European Championship title in Pontevedra. Then he has to deal with a very strong Belgian block, including Eli Iserbyt, Thibau Nys and the champion of the last two years Michael Vanthourenhout.
The big three – Mathieu van der Poel, Wout van Aert and Tom Pidcock – are missing in Spain. They will not make their appearance until the end of December at the earliest.
Experienced expert
David van der Poel, Mathieu’s older brother, skipped the European Championships in Drenthe in 2021 to score UCI points in the Spanish cyclo-cross circuit.
“I did four or five crosses that year Cyclocross Cup of Spains driven. My father and a family friend drove to Spain with my equipment. I went by plane, but made sure I found a good hotel and a nice restaurant. I already enjoyed doing that.”
“Cyco-cross is very popular, especially in the Basque Country,” continues Van der Poel, who now works as an agent to help cyclists with practical matters. “It’s a bit like the American clay court scene, everyone can participate and then stays to cheer on the pros.”
However, it lacks a Spanish star. If it is up to Felipe Orts, that will change quickly. The Spanish champion, who this year forms a team with Dutch champion Joris Nieuwenhuis, has been working internationally for years.
“Orts comes from the area of Benidorm, where a World Cup competition has been organized for the last two years,” says Van der Poel. “In 2021 I won the sprint for second place against Orts in Pontevedra. Write him down for the podium this European Championship.”
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