Brand 'blows it' in the first round and Van Empel feeling ill: "In the end you just lack the power"

Friday, 03 January 2025 at 17:02

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Puck Pieterse gloriously won in Koksijde at the X2O Trophy cross. Behind her, Inge van der Heijden seemed to have every chance of a podium for a long time, but she eventually lost ground. Lucinda Brand and Fem van Empel came second and third, with Brand in particular coming pretty close in the end.

The Dutch champion is angry with herself. "Well, I blew it in the first round, and it went average. I don't know what I was doing there," said the Baloise Glowi Lions rider in the flash interview.

Still, she rode two very strong final laps, where she caught up a bit to Pieterse. For a while, the Fenix-Deceunick rider was afraid Brand would return. A few days ago in Baal, the Dutch champion lost her lead in the last lap. "At one point, I had accepted that I would ride for second place. But going into the last lap, I saw that I was getting closer, so I thought: come on, give everything one more time."

But that wasn't enough. "In the last lap, I had to take every descent and sand passage perfectly, but that was simply impossible," she concludes.

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Van Empel ill and could not perform optimally

Fem van Empel had entirely different reasons for her inferior performance. She seemed uncomfortable on the sand and made a few unnecessary mistakes. "Today, it just wasn't possible. Yesterday, I noticed that I was not fit. Then this morning, it felt okay, but it was a bit less during the recon," she said in the flash interview.

Subsequently, it also got into her head. "If you are not fit, you can still think you are good, but you just don't have the power. I made the best of it. In the end, I rode one good lap, and the rest was mostly fighting. Third place isn't bad, of course, but I hope to be fit again soon to go for the win in Dendermonde on Sunday."

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Bram van der PloegEditor-in-chief

Bram van der Ploeg (35) is the proud founder of In de Leiderstrui, IDL Pro Cycling's parent site, launched in 2018. Finally, he could create stories about the sport he had followed since childhood. He is the editor-in-chief on paper, but prefers to be with his recorder next to a rider, a team bus, or in the mud at a cyclocross race. Every year, from February to the end of May, Bram follows the entire Italian cycling season, from the Trofeo Laigueglia to the Giro d'Italia, with the grand finale in October in Lombardy. During that time, he lives in Tuscany, where he has since come to call Italy his 'home'.

Bram van der Ploeg | Lindkedin | Email

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