Fem van Empel est tout simplement une jambe au-dessus de ses adversaires ! 7e cyclo-cross cette saison pour la Néerlandaise... et 7e victoire. La dernière "défaite" de van Empel, remonte à début janvier, elle est donc sur une série incroyable de 13 succès. Sur ces Championnats d'Europe de Pontchâteau, en Loire-Atlantique, la Championne du Monde a encore une fois dominé toutes ses concurrentes et s'est imposée avec une très grosse marge. Sur la ligne, van Empel a devancé sa compatriote néerlandaise et principale concurrente Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado de 1'35". Derrière l'ancienne Championne du Monde la bataille pour la 3e place a été intense, mais, à la surprise générale, c'est Sara Casasola qui complète le podium. L'Italienne de 23 ans, qui disputait seulement son deuxième cross au haut niveau cette année, a devancé Inge van der Heijden, 4e. Amandine Fouquenet, première Française, termine elle 10e à plus de 4 minutes.
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SportTranscription
00:00 How does it feel to wear this jersey now?
00:02 I mean, you have the world's, now you have this one.
00:05 Yeah, it felt always good when you can wear a jersey.
00:11 I'm training in the European jersey, so I switch sometimes to the world's jersey.
00:22 So, yeah, it's quite nice.
00:24 Some choices.
00:25 Yeah, I like it.
00:27 In the flash interview you said it's hard or difficult to stay mentally focused.
00:33 Can you explain that a little bit more?
00:35 Yeah, physically it's okay to do quite a lot of races, but mentally it's quite hard.
00:47 So the people outside, they expect that I can win every race.
00:53 In the week it's so hard to stay focused and also on the race.
00:59 They expect so much, but that's a problem.
01:05 You need to stay focused the whole time.
01:09 But if you look at the races, you can easily cope with that situation.
01:13 Yeah, indeed, but now it's time for some mental rest.
01:19 It's better for me.
01:21 When do we see you back?
01:23 The last weekend of November, I think, in Kortrijk.
01:29 I skipped two races.
01:31 It must feel good to win all the races you do.
01:37 Can you improve even more with not racing?
01:43 I hope not.
01:49 Before the season, the plan was to be in good shape at the beginning.
01:55 Not in top shape, but it's going quite well at the moment.
02:03 But mentally it's harder than physically.
02:09 It's now time for some rest.
02:11 And then in two weeks I will race again.
02:15 Where do you see your future?
02:19 You've been tasting a little bit from road racing this summer.
02:23 You did some good results.
02:25 Of course, cyclocross is not your top.
02:27 Do you see a future in both disciplines?
02:31 I don't know.
02:33 I like the combination.
02:35 Next year I will do some more road racing.
02:39 I don't know which races.
02:41 But cyclocross I like the most.
02:47 I will definitely combine the two disciplines.
02:51 What about the races for Spand?
02:55 What did you do yesterday?
02:57 I went to the fitness yesterday.
03:05 And then some minutes on the rollers.
03:09 I walked when it was dry.
03:15 It was quite an active day.
03:19 - Yeah.