Fem van Empel marked her return to winning ways with a result that carried both sporting weight and emotional significance. The Exact Cross Heerderstrand delivered a demanding course, a tight three-way battle and, ultimately, a landmark moment in the career of the three-time world champion. By the time she crossed the finish line, sign held high above her head, Van Empel had secured her 50th professional cyclocross victory, becoming the youngest rider ever to reach the milestone.
A course that gave nothing for free
The loop around the Heerderstrand mixed stiff sandy stretches with harder parkland, short technical ramps and exposed sections that punished even the slightest lapse in concentration. The surface looked like a classic sandcross on paper, but organisers warned beforehand that this was nothing like Alphen or Antwerp. The sand here was dense, sticky and slow, making long runnable sections inevitable and momentum a precious commodity.
The opening laps reflected those traits perfectly. Leonie Bentveld exploded out of the start, repeating the pattern she had set in Ruddervoorde and Woerden, driving the pace through the first two laps with a level of commitment that quickly stretched the field. Behind her, the course threw its first obstacle at Van Empel. Contact with another rider forced the Visma Lease a Bike leader into an early bike change, dropping her from the front and forcing her into chase mode sooner than expected.
It was a setback, but a manageable one. The gaps never ballooned, and by the time the third lap began Van Empel had ridden her way back to Bentveld. Aniek van Alphen had already closed across and was riding with her usual directness, pushing the pace on the power sections and putting pressure on both her compatriots.
A three-way fight that narrowed to two
Halfway through the race the dynamic shifted. Bentveld, still strong, began to show the first hints of fatigue. Where she had floated over the early running sections, small errors began to creep into her lines. It left Van Alphen and Van Empel to control the front, and the duel that had been simmering throughout October finally took centre stage.
Van Alphen kept the pressure high, repeatedly snapping Van Empel’s elastic and forcing her to close small but stinging gaps. The world champion never panicked. Each time she lost half a wheel, she brought it back. Each time Van Alphen tried to stretch the group, she waited for her moment rather than try to force one.
By the bell the three-woman group had finally split. Bentveld was just off the back, riding bravely but unable to match the rising pace. The race that remained now belonged to Van Empel and Van Alphen alone.
Van Empel’s precision in the finale
The decisive moment came on the back half of the final lap. The technical sections, slippery and rutted after repeated traffic, demanded smoothness above all else. Van Empel leaned into exactly that. On every corner exit, she gained a half-metre. On every acceleration, she added another. Van Alphen resisted, never blowing, but the rhythm was tipping away from her.
“Mistakes were easy to make on this course,” Van Empel said afterwards. “In the final phase, I put Aniek under pressure in the technical section. I got a small advantage, and that turned out to be enough.”
It was a measured effort, not a single explosive attack. When she hit the finishing straight, she had time not only to enjoy the moment, but to mark it. From the crowd, she collected the cardboard sign she had prepared the day before – “Hoera! 50 overwinningen” – and held it aloft as she crossed the line.
“I had secretly thought about a possible celebration beforehand,” she admitted. “Reaching my 50th victory was one of my goals for the winter, so it’s fantastic to already have it.”
Van Alphen rolled in eight seconds behind after another strong ride, while Bentveld secured third, her early aggression rewarded with a well-earned podium.
A milestone that shapes the season ahead
With back-to-back wins in Woerden and Heerde, Van Empel has hit her stride at exactly the moment the bigger races begin to gather. She lines up next in the opening round of the Superprestige in Overijse, where she will face Lucinda Brand, Blanka Vas and European champion Inge van der Heijden.
The sign may have been handwritten, the celebration simple, but the number it marked was anything but. Fifty wins at 23 years old tells its own story. In Heerde, Van Empel didn’t just reach a milestone. She reminded the field how difficult she is to beat when the course is unforgiving and the stakes are high.
2025 Exact Cross Heerde Women result
Results powered by FirstCycling.com
Main photo credit: Bart Hazen
