Fem van Empel celebrates 50th cyclocross victory at muddy Exact Cross race with handmade sign hidden in her kit

Fem van Empel, a three-time cyclocross elite world champion, scored her 50th professional victory in the discipline with the C2 win at Exact Cross Heerderstrand.

The 23-year-old Dutch rider celebrated with a handmade sign she created on cardboard and had tucked away in her jersey. On her way to a solo ride across the line today and with 100 metres to go, she held the sign above her head that read, ‘Hoera’, translated ‘Hurrah’, written above a large ’50’ to celebrate the number of victories.

She came into this season two wins shy of the milestone, wasting no time with back-to-back victories at home races in the Netherlands, Tuesday at Nacht van Woerden and then Saturday in Heerde.

“Reaching my 50th victory was definitely one of my goals for this winter, so it’s fantastic that it’s already happened today,” Van Empel said in a team statement. “I had secretly thought about a possible celebration beforehand, and a sign with ‘50’ on it seemed quite fitting. I really enjoyed this one.”

In both races Van Empel had to withstand challenges by compatriot Aniek van Alphen (Seven Racing), holding off her rival by four seconds on Tuesday.

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The margin of victory was eight seconds at the Exact Cross race, but Van Empel’s ride was not straightforward as a rider made contact with her bike early so she made a stop in the pits to switch her machine. Leonie Bentveld (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) took advantage and moved ahead solo for two laps of the muddy course.

Van Alphen and Van Empel then made contact by the third circuit and went head-to-head on the final lap. It was on the back half of the course where the World Champion moved away in slippery conditions but created enough space between her and her rival to pull out the sign, winning by the eight-second margin, Bentveld settling for third.

“I had a good start, but decided to change bikes in the opening lap after someone rode into me. It was a tough course, so the gap was still manageable.

“In the final phase, I put Van Alphen under pressure in the technical section. Mistakes were easy to make on this course, and in the end I gained a small advantage. That turned out to be enough to make the difference today.”

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider is on the start line Sunday for the opening round of the Superprestige series in Overijse. She’ll face top-ranked Lucinda Brand (Baloise Glowi Lions), Kata Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) and Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon). Brand has two wins in the books this season as well, last winning Exact Cross Essen a week ago.