Puck Pieterse secured her first elite world title today at the UCI mountain bike World Championships in Pal Arinsal, Andorra. The Dutch rider was aggressive from the gun in the XCO race, expertly tackling the steep course at altitude to earn a rainbow jersey after winning the young rider classification at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift last month.
The UCI pushed all of Sunday’s races up earlier in the day due to an approaching thunderstorm. The elite women and U23 women raced together, both completing a shortened five-lap race that was scored separately.
How it happened
- Pieterse attacked from the gun and was chased by Switzerland’s Alessandra Keller and Candice Lill of South Africa. Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (France), appearing in her final mountain bike race before returning to the road next season, was initially outside of the top 10 but made her way up through the first lap. Freshly crowned short track world champion Evie Richards (Great Britain) crashed but was uninjured, quickly remounting her bike.
- Pieterse established a nine-second gap over Lill by the end of the first lap. Behind, Ferrand-Prévot was chasing along with the Americans Haley Batten and Savilia Blunk about 22 seconds down.
- The race then briefly came back together with Lill catching Pieterse and Ferrand-Prévot slotting into third. The Frenchwoman couldn’t match the pace of the leaders though and soon dropped back. Heading into lap 3, Martina Berta (Italy) moved up to third.
- Lill briefly took the lead, but Pieterse was quick to defend the first spot on track. Meanwhile, Anne Terpstra (Netherlands) and Loana Lecomte (France) were closing in on the medals. Eventual U23 winner Isabella Holmgren passed Ferrand-Prévot, an impressive show of strength by the young Canadian rider.
- As the race closed in on the final two laps, Pieterse went hard in an effort to bolster her lead. She gained 13 seconds on Lill by the end of lap 3, with Lecomte moving up into third position.
- Lill had an unfortunate crash near the tech zone, giving Terpstra the chance to move into second. The Andorran altitude was no match for Pieterse, who extended her lead to more than a minute heading into the fifth and final lap.
- As Pieterse rolled on to her first elite rainbow jersey, Terpstra claimed the silver medal and Berta passed Lill to earn bronze.
Brief Analysis
- Pieterse’s victory is another achievement for her palmarès that includes a U23 cyclocross title, and it’s a marked improvement on the 22-year-old’s fourth-place finish at the Olympics last month.
- The shortened race (5 laps instead of 6) may have played a factor in the results sheet. The race was 15-20 minutes shorter than a typical XCO race, leading to a quicker and more aggressive race as riders looked to build gaps earlier in the day. This may have played into Pieterse’s hands, as the Dutchwoman has vast experience with shorter cyclocross races.
- Lill was on impressive form but ultimately could not hold it together for a medal. It was also nice to see Lecomte on course and riding to a top-five finish after a scary crash at the Olympics.
- U23 winner Holmgren would have finished in sixth place if she were racing elite. It’s unfortunate that the U23 women could not have their own chance to race as they usually do at Worlds and World Cups, but the approaching storm had the UCI worried about lightning strikes in the area. The silver lining is we got to see how fast young riders like Holmgren stack up racing with the elites.
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