Fem van Empel had to settle for second place in the Gavere World Cup on Tuesday afternoon. The 21-year-old world champion thus saw her winning streak, which lasted eleven (!) cyclo-cross races, come to an end. She encountered a strong Puck Pieterse, who in turn saw all the puzzle pieces fall into place. "I don’t have an immediate explanation for this," a disappointed Van Empel tells IDLProCycling.com and other media.
In the first laps, despite some minor falls, Pieterse was already faster than the world champion. "I quickly noticed that someone was stronger today and that I couldn’t go deeper. I don’t know why, but Puck was really strong today and truly deserves it. But I am definitely disappointed. I always ride for the win, but today it just didn’t work out at all."
While Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado managed to catch up with Pieterse for a while, Van Empel remained behind. "I was surprised that I could come back to Ceylin and still finish second. So, I am a bit satisfied and a bit dissatisfied, in a way. It’s difficult. But you can’t always win, so I have to accept that sometimes it’s just not your day. This second place actually makes me more motivated to win the upcoming races," she warns her competitors.
Van Empel didn't want to say much more about it. She was clearly irked when addressing the press. Not angry, not sad, but ready for another battle. The next duel with Pieterse will take place on December 30th, in Hulst. "As of right now," says Van Empel, "it looks like I will also ride in Heusden-Zolder on Wednesday."
The reason for her cautious statement is her painful knee. After several falls in the previous cyclo-cross season (with Val di Sole as the low point), she has been suffering a lot. During the warm-up in Gavere, she fell on her knee again. "I lost control during the descent and during the cross, I didn’t want to injure my knee any further. That’s why I always went down safely." So what now? "Taking a break might be an idea, but we'll have to carefully assess that. For now, it seems like I will just continue racing during the Christmas period. We will see how it evolves in the coming days and then make a decision."