No more doubts: Van Empel establishes dominance with successful comeback in cyclo-cross Gavere

The busy Christmas period continued with the cyclo-cross of Gavere, always one of the most challenging cyc-crosses on the calendar; the course has a lot of elevation. The theme of the World Cup cross was the return of world champion Van Empel. She had to miss the previous World Cups in Hulst and Zonhoven due to a crash during training. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, the winner of the last two races in Mol and Zonhoven, was absent. She wants to avoid overloading and, therefore, prefers some extra rest.

Nevertheless, there was plenty of competition for Van Empel. Brand and Pieterse were present. Brand has been remarkably consistent this season and has never missed the podium. A victory, however, had been a while ago (Dublin, December 1). She has missed a win in recent races due to technical mistakes. Pieterse was looking for the familiar feeling on the cross bike, as she had just started her season.

Van Empel started strong and was in second position after the start, behind the always well-positioned Swiss Marie Schreiber. On the first passage of the slant, a focused Van Empel immediately accelerated to the front position. Pieterse was the only one holding the wheel of the world champion. Blanka Vas followed a few seconds behind. The leader in the World Cup Brand followed from the seventh position and thus had something to settle.

Meanwhile, Vas had closed the gap to Van Empel and Pieterse, and Zoe Bäckstedt made the connection after a solid effort. Brand took advantage of a grueling run through the mud to rejoin the front, but shortly thereafter, she made a mistake when getting on the bike, immediately throwing her back to her earlier position. It was by no means her first costly mistake in recent cyclo-cross races.

By the end of the first lap, Van Empel and Pieterse accelerated again. The two peers were one step ahead of the other on the hilly course. Brand kept up with the two leaders at pace, but after the first lap, she had a challenging task to make up for a gap of ten seconds. In her wake, Vas and Bäckstedt competed for a podium place.

Van Empel was eager for the win. In the second lap, she put pressure on Pieterse. Pieterse lost second by second to her rival on the rigid uphill running strip. However, the Fenix-Deceuninck rider did not give in easily and kept the gap within five seconds. The brand lost more and more time on Van Empel in third position, and the Hungarian Vas followed at seventeen seconds.

After two laps, Pieterse could no longer resist. The pace of the unleashed Van Empel proved too powerful for her. The difference between them quickly grew to fifteen seconds. Although Pieterse was gaining some ground on the technical part of the race on lap three, it was only a last revival. Van Empel did not budge and then only increased her lead, thus winning the World Cup of Gavere in superior fashion.

Whereas Van Empel had no more problems, Pieterse did not. Her second place was far from certain in the final laps. Brand, who had finally shaken off Vas after several attempts, was making a mighty push and had Pieterse in her sights. On the second-to-last lap, Brand even went up and over her compatriot. After that, Pieterse seemed to run out of energy but still fought her way back.

The two compatriots gave the fans a nice show. In the last lap, Pieterse even attacked. Brand could not immediately answer that acceleration. However, the running lane offered a solution. Brand had the advantage there and turned the situation around again. Now, it was she who forced Pieterse on the defensive. And this time, Pieterse no longer had an answer. Consequently, Brand grabbed spot two.