After recon, Van Empel knew where to make the difference, but that's where things went wrong: "Too enthusiastic"

Fem van Empel had an unsuccessful cross of Namur. The young Dutch rider from Visma | Lease a Bike was far behind the race's leaders halfway through the race and eventually crossed the finish line in seventh place, just over a minute and a half behind winner Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. She recounted her story at IDLProCycling.com after the finish.

"In terms of results, everyone expects so much, of course, but I don't even have an awful feeling about it," said Van Empel, who failed to make the podium for the first time this cyclo-cross season. "I was just too enthusiastic, so I made a few mistakes. Nothing is wrong with my condition; you can see how quickly I can catch up."

So Van Empel entered the field with a lot, and in retrospect, with too much enthusiasm. "I just felt very confident on the sloping side after the recon. I could make a difference there. But I slid and lost quite a lot of time with that. Of course, you want to return quickly, which made me too eager."

No victory, but satisfied feeling for Van Empel: "except for those few mistakes"

For Van Empel, it didn't stop at just one mistake. The sloping side turned out to be where she lost a lot of time. She does not look back on her race at the Citadel of Namur with dissatisfaction. "Except for those few mistakes, which cost a lot of places and time. You can't be satisfied if you give up, but I tried my best. That's very positive."

In her crashes, the 22-year-old rider did seem to have hurt herself. "I hit the frame with the inside of my knee. I fell on that. I hope it's not too bad. I do feel it a little bit."

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