Give me that cyclocross confidence 🔥

It's Fem van Empel's world and we're just living in it

Hello lovely subscribers! 💞

How are we all finding the off-season? For us, it’s been a weird mixture of quiet but also still busy: there was no room to breathe between the end of road racing and the start of track and CX, and with news of transfers, teams and race routes still rumbling on, there’s still been lots to talk about in the world of cycling. And though we were definitely feeling the Bike Racing Fatigue by the time Romandie rolled around, I’ve got to admit, I have lapped up the start of the cross season. Just can’t get enough, eh? And in fact, that’s what I’m here to write about today. 

Over here at WCW we love two things: off-road racing (if you hadn’t already noticed) and young, female riders with bags of talent and confidence. So naturally, the current crop of crazy strong and super bold young cyclocross riders is right up our street. With Fem van Empel currently three for three in the World Cups, and Blanka Vas fresh off beating World Champ Marianne Vos in her season-opener, I thought I’d write about the young riders who are showing that the future is very much now, and why their precocious racing is a total joy to watch. 

Tilda x

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Give me the confidence of a 20-year-old cyclocross racer. This is the thought that’s been going through my head as I, at the seemingly ancient age of 24, muddle through the road off-season whilst riders born IN THE 2000s (???) completely destroy the opening races of the cyclocross circuit.

We may be only three World Cups in, but I’m calling it: this is the season of the young riders. The season where the ‘next generation’ proves that no, actually, they’re not ‘next’ or ‘up-and-coming’ they’re this generation, this is their discipline, and they’re here to beat whoever you previously thought were the best. 

With World Champion Marianne Vos, defending World Cup winner Lucinda Brand and even Pauline Ferrand-Prévot lining up to race the 2022-23 cross season, it looked like we were in for a vintage season of battles between the seasoned pros. Vos and Ferrand-Prévot are two of the best off-road riders the sport has ever seen, and after dominating last winter, what was to stop Lucinda Brand doing the same again? Unfortunately, a heavy crash at Tábor has left Brand with a hand fracture and out for several weeks, but even before then, it looked like the expected protagonists were going to have a hard time against the likes of Fem van Empel, Puck Pieterse and Blanka Vas.