Cyclist Fem van Empel from Den Dungen returns in race after a six -year break. The 23-year-old rider of Visma-Lease a Bike will ride one competition on the road on Sunday, after which the visor will go completely on cycling (on unpaved course, ed.). The combination of cycling on the road and in the field is a thing of the past. Van Empel temporarily stopped cycling due to mental complaints.
“I’m going to do what I love the most,” says Van Empel in a press release about her great love: the cross. “My motivation and pleasure in road cycling are less strong than for cyclocross. When I made the decision, it immediately felt good.”
In February, Van Empel became world champion on the cross bike for the third time in a row. A few weeks later, after two spring matches on the road, she lasted a break with a view to her spiritual well -being and she did not rode a competition for six months.
Exhausted
Van Empel was mentally exhausted and felt more cyclist than human: “I no longer knew who I was outside of cycling.”
But during her absence of cycling, Van Empel did not sit still. In May, for example, she finished as the fastest woman in the five kilometers of running during the Vestingloop in Den Bosch. At the Hogebergloop on Texel she even climbed to the highest step of the podium.
In addition to a competition context and with (mental) guidance, she found, just by bike, herself and the pleasure. “I learned to appreciate myself more as a person, apart from results. In the end I mainly found myself and I am very happy with that,” says Van Empel.
Support
Since the 2023 season, the multi-talent from Den Dungen has been under contract with the Dutch Visma team, which also hoped to be able to further develop her in road cycling.
The team supports its choice to fully focus on cyclocross. “I greatly appreciate that,” says Van Empel, who felt the support during her period of peace. “The team gave me the peace and freedom to determine my own course with the message: do what you give the most pleasure. I greatly appreciate that.”
On Sunday she drives the Grand Prix de Fourmies, a French road game, in preparation for the cross season.