"I guess that's not bad?"; Van Empel expresses her feelings in one sentence after Dublin

Almost everyone thought Fem van Empel would "easily" win the Dublin World Cup race, but she had no chance against a rock-solid Lucinda Brand. The world champion wasn't so lucky either: first, she had a flat tire, and in the sandbox, she lost a lot of time after a mistake. In two weeks, she will return to Herentals, Belgium.

That bad luck was not ideal, but Van Empel doesn't want to blame her loss entirely on that. "Lucinda was strong, so I don't regret anything," she was brief and to the point in the flash interview afterward. In the sandbox, it went wrong: there she had to get off the bike from the start, and while running, she lost a lot of time on her rival, whom she then didn't see again. "Lucinda slowed down a bit, and I made a mistake by being too close. She rode a solid race, and I couldn't overtake her again."

After two laps of catching up, earlier in the race, she had to return after the flat tire; there simply wasn't much left in the legs of the European champion from Pontevedra. "Lucinda rode away from me, and I think she was the strongest today." Did the choice of tires play a role? Brand rode on different tubes and had more grip. "Not necessarily. I did have a flat tire, unfortunately. I might have chosen a different tire pressure, but those are minor details. I don't think that made the difference."

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Another cyclo-cross break for Van Empel: "I actually liked it this way"

Now it's time to take a break from cyclo-cross for Van Empel. She is entering another training period. So, after a few cyclo-cross races, she will disappear again. "I actually liked it this way," she laughs. "But it's a conscious decision to return to a training period now." The extra training should recharge the battery for the cyclo-cross period around Christmas. "I guess you can look at that from that perspective."

Before catching her flight to the Netherlands, she reflected on her race in Dublin with the Irish press. "I'm not in bad shape after two World Cup races. I stand here with a lot of confidence. I finished on the podium in every race, so I guess that's not bad?" the Dutch rider concluded with an accurate comment.

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