From the start, Van Empel immediately showed the aspirations she had come to Herentals with. The reigning European champion went up the famous Skiberg first and only saw Lucinda Brand, Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado and Annemarie Worst following in her. On the penultimate lap, Van Empel distanced herself from her competitors, after which she was able to ride unthreatened to the finish. 

"I am super happy with this. I've been working hard in recent weeks, so then it's nice when you see results right away", Van Empel said. "On a course like this, it was key to keep the pressure on all the time. I thought: if I go full on every climb, I will push the others to a gap. It was important to enter the descent first, so you could follow your own line. Because it was slippery, a mistake is easily made. Fortunately, it all went well today."

Van Empel, who has just finished a training camp on the road, will be back in action tomorrow at the World Cup in Namur.