One more carnival cyclo-cross for Van Empel, then a well-deserved vacation, and... the Tour of Flanders

Fem van Empel is the star of this cyclo-cross season among women, and we can now conclusively say that after the Cyclocross World Championships in Tábor. The Dutch rider left no room for competition in Tábor, securing her second consecutive world title. Next week, she will compete in her final race of the season, coinciding with Carnival, and then she will embark on a well-deserved vacation.

"I did everything for this race, the entire season long. It's the icing on the cake of a pretty good season. I'm so happy; this is truly a victory for Team Fem, the whole group that surrounds me. Very special, and I want to thank them," were Van Empel's first words after her world title. "The World Championships is a special day where everything needs to fall into place at the right moment. It went so well today, and I'm very pleased with that."

It all looked so easy, but according to the leading lady herself, it wasn't actually that simple. "It was not easy at all. I had a plan to ride my own race, and it went well. The pace was high, and I could strengthen my lead, so I'm quite happy with that," said Van Empel, who quickly created a gap. "I wanted to try to see who was in my wheel. That worked from the first lap, and it was good for me because I could quickly open up a gap."

From that moment on, the main focus was on maintaining the lead. "This course suits me perfectly, so I just tried to accelerate further. My plan was to go solo as soon as possible, and I had trained a lot on the uphill sections," said the winner, who also revealed that her team had devised a clever way to communicate. "I received updates on my lead each time. In the equipment zone, I was shown on a signboard what my advantage was, and there were also a few people along the way."

"Could have been a pitfall to be too relaxed at the start," says Van Empel

"That was necessary," Van Empel pointed out. "I could barely hear anything because all I could hear was the shouting of the people around me. It's challenging to stay focused in such circumstances, but I managed in the end." The Visma | Lease a Bike rider explained that she had been focused from early in the morning. "It's not a normal race, but I tried to approach it as one. It's very special, but good. The preparation was the same as always, and I felt relaxed. It could have been a pitfall to be too relaxed at the start, but ultimately, it all worked out. Perhaps I found the right balance between being relaxed and performing well," she added.

And now? "Above all, I'm going to enjoy it. That's perhaps the most important thing," said Van Empel, who still has one more cyclo-cross race to compete in (in Lille, on February 11) to secure her X2O Trophy victory for the season. "I'll only race in Lille and then I'll go on vacation. After that, our team has a great plan lined up, and I'm really looking forward to it, including racing with the girls." We will also see Van Empel in action in the major classics, but for now, she's understandably not thinking too much about that. "I'll be racing Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders. Those are exciting prospects, but first, I'm going to enjoy some downtime." And that's well-deserved, Fem!