She might be behind last year’s pace, but Fem van Empel now has a six-pack of 2024-2025 season victories. After almost a month’s recess, the 2024-2025 X2O Badkamers Trofee resumed with Saturday’s fourth of eight rounds in Herentals, Belgium, and the world champion cracked the other Dutch riders vying for the day’s flowers. At the midway point of the series, Saturday’s runner-up Lucinda Brand has a 4:40 gap at the top of the table. The top Canadian was Katja Verkerk in 33rd. Maghalie Rochette did not finish.
Preliminaries
Lokeren round victor Lucinda Brand was over two minutes ahead of Sara Casasola at the top of the classification. Van Empel—who triumphed last season in Herentals—and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado won the other two rounds.
Rochette and Verkerk made up the Canadian contingent.
Van Empel seized the hole shot and led into the first left-hand turn. Alvarado kept close to the world champion. Gaps opened on Lap 1, with van Empel and Alvarado ahead of Brand and Annemarie Worst. Brand made it over, took the lead and finished the first 3.3-km lap in 8:56.
Worst worked hard to make sure she was part of the quartet on Lap 2 of 5, and van Empel’s calming of the pace ensured this. Sanne Cant, on her local course in her final year, tried to create a quintet. Van Empel and Brand hopped on fresh machines. No one really pushed on the second lap, but neither Cant nor anyone else could join the foursome.
Again, van Empel changed bikes at the start of Lap 3. Brand began to push on, forcing gaps in the little string, and again Worst was Tailgunner Charlie. When Alvarado when into the pit, she crashed leaving and had to put her chain back on. With Brand and van Empel beginning to lap riders ahead, Alvarado looked to be out of it. Worst was 12 seconds back at the line and Alvarado was +0:27.
On the penultimate lap, Brand and van Empel skirmished while Worst toiled to ensure a podium. Van Empel went to the front just before Worst tagged along. Just as Alvarado began to loom in the background, Brand biffed on a climb. Van Empel hit the gas, crossing the line nine seconds before Worst and 23 seconds clear of Brand and Alvarado.
With van Empel trying to stay out of trouble at the pointy end of the race, the podium battle hotted up on the…
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