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World champion Fem van Empel (Visma-Lease A Bike) soloed to her second win of the 2024-25 cyclocross season within the first spherical of the X2O Trofee, the Koppenbergcross.
The Dutchwoman, racing her fifth occasion of the season, beat Lucinda Model (Baloise Trek Lions) into second place by 31 seconds. Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) rounded out the rostrum in third place at 1:35.
“That is my favorite race of all the season,” Van Empel stated later, in accordance with WielerFlits. “It is nice that I can win for the third time in a row. It feels nice, I labored onerous for it and I am pleased with it.
“Perhaps I needed to silence the critics,” she added after she was requested a few winless streak throughout her earlier three begins this season. “However I did not say something; I responded with the pedals.”
The rostrum hit the entrance of the race proper from the beginning of the four-lap occasion, with Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and Annemarie Worst (Reds) additionally up there initially because the quintet proved the strongest riders from the beginning peloton.
On the opening lap, it was Model who pushed on on the entrance, upsetting one other break up as she took Van Empel and Casasola together with her. Nevertheless, Italian champion Casasola, en path to her third podium of the yr, could not dwell with the tempo and needed to let go, too.
Model, who has twice gained the X2O Trofee however by no means triumphed on the Koppenberg, additionally slipped away from the entrance of the race on the finish of the lap as Van Empel placed on the tempo excessive of the well-known cobbled climb.
For Van Empel, the expertise was nothing new after victories in 2022 (by 52 seconds) and 2023 (by 1:50). She continued to drag out a bonus through the second lap, the place it was already clear she’d be on target for a 3rd win in a row.
At first of the closing lap, she had 28 seconds on Model whereas Casasola lay 1:08 adrift. Round 30 seconds additional again, Vas was battling to carry off Worst for fourth place.
The Hungarian would nearly handle it, ending two minutes off the charging Van Empel, who accomplished the race in underneath 40 minutes, and 5 seconds up on Worst.
Model and Casasola raced house solo to fill out the rostrum, whereas a distant sixth place was scored by Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) with a deficit of 4 minutes.
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