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Puck Pieterse returns to cyclocross motion this weekend on the fourth spherical of the UCI World Cup in Troyes, France. It’s simply her second race of a now-compact ‘cross season, because the 21-year-old paused racing for a month after charging via a relentless calendar of cyclocross, highway and mountain bike competitions.
It was a scorching season throughout three disciplines for the Fenix-Deceuninck rider in 2023. Following a ‘cross season the place she landed on the rostrum in all 19 of her cyclocross races, 4 of them World Cup victories plus a silver medal on the World Championships, she made her WorldTour highway debut at Strade Bianche and completed within the prime 5.
Then she switched to flat bars and took on elite riders at mountain bike XCO World Cups, successful 4 rounds, together with the Nové Mesto victory in Might that noticed her energy away on the ultimate lap from World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prévot. She gained brief observe titles at Dutch nationals, European Championships, after which silver at Worlds the place she additionally earned XCO bronze.
A return to cyclocross means a return to the much-anticipated rivalry with compatriot Fem van Empel (Jumbo-Visma), who has gained all seven races she’s began this season, together with two World Cup rounds and the European Championships.
Fenix-Deceuninck supervisor/directeur sportif Christoph Roodhoft anticipated her to leap again into the fray and never skip a pedal stroke.
“I do not assume a lot can have modified in comparison with final yr,” Roodhoft informed Wielerflits in a current interview. “Puck has in fact gained plenty of confidence via her MTB summer season. Fem van Empel was additionally lively in mountain biking, however that was much less profitable than Puck’s marketing campaign. That can be totally different within the cross, the 2 can be shut to one another once more.”
Earlier than taking break day, Pieterse competed in just one ‘cross occasion, the World Cup spherical in Waterloo the place she completed second behind Van Empel. The pair had been evenly matched on the muddy Wisconsin observe for the primary lap, however Van Empel sailed away on an error-free journey and Pieterse, who’s normally sound technically, misplaced floor within the moist situations.
“Puck is the higher, or if not one of the best, technically expert rider. If she will be able to mood her enthusiasm a bit, I believe that could possibly be a very nice asset in the long run. However in the mean time her enthusiasm generally nonetheless kills her,” Roodhoft admitted.
“Puck nonetheless tends to go very quick to start with. Or generally she tries one thing that may’t actually be tried or actually not at that second. Anyway, she’s nonetheless younger and you continue to have that youthful enthusiasm in you. That may actually be resolved.”
On the mountain bike, Pieterse was certainly technically sound and swept the general World Cup titles for elite ladies in cross-country and brief observe disciplines. She raced eight rounds in the summertime, ending with the 2 occasions in North America. Van Empel, nonetheless, competed in simply three rounds.
“Puck was really nonetheless in superb form on the mountain bike on the finish of the season. A relaxation interval was a smart selection, she continues to be very younger. She rested but additionally stayed busy on her bike. It is usually necessary to not relaxation for too lengthy as a result of it is rather troublesome to renew cross-country racing,” Roodhoft stated.
The reigning Dutch elite ladies’s cyclocross nationwide champion prolonged her contract with Fenix-Deceuninck throughout her summer season of mountain bike conquests, the workforce securing her skills via 2027.
She referred to as it a ‘logical resolution’ because the workforce would permit her to pursue a number of disciplines, with Pieterse eyeing gold on the Paris Olympic Video games on the mountain bike in 2024.
“The wonderful thing about this workforce and construction is that I can mix the totally different disciplines and have the liberty to resolve myself when to do which self-discipline. It’s a logical resolution,” Pieterse stated in June about her professional contract.
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