Think about lining up on your first-ever stage race, and it occurs to be the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift – the most important girls’s biking race on this planet.
However reasonably than intimidated by the grandeur of all of it, Dutch bike owner Puck Pieterse is taking the Tour by storm, attacking the race favourites and sprinting to a photograph end on Stage 4 to take a stage win and the lead in two classifications — not dangerous for somebody who, by her personal admission, remains to be “simply feeling it out” on the highway
The 21-year-old is greatest recognized for her stellar cyclocross and mountain biking performances and her fast ascent within the filth disciplines. Her infectious smile, gutsy racing and pure pleasure in using bikes making her each a fan and media favorite all over the place she goes.
Together with her sights set on the Paris Olympics mountain bike race, highway racing to date has been nothing however a aspect mission. Earlier than lining up for the Tour de France Femmes on Monday, she’d competed in simply eight highway races in 2024 and two in 2023.
However her eight-day spring marketing campaign in 2024 noticed her contest among the 12 months’s hardest races, together with Tour of Flanders and Strade Bianche. Whereas inexperienced, Pieterse proved that she’s no unusual expertise. Of these eight races, she completed within the high 10 seven instances, together with a podium end at Trofeo Alfredo Binda and the Ronde van Drenthe.
After wrapping up her brief however profitable marketing campaign, Pieterse shifted her focus completely to mountain biking, the place she claimed three World Cup wins and the European title. However her much-anticipated Olympic marketing campaign ended with the most important disappointment of her younger profession: a flat tyre took her out of medal competition, and he or she completed fourth.
Following the mountain bike race, Pieterse went to altitude camp along with her Fenix-Deceuninck teammates, the most important objective of which was to get her thoughts off the frustration and refocus on a brand new and thrilling objective: her first Grand Tour.
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Pieterse approached the Tour with a mixture of pleasure and uncertainty. “This will likely be my first stage race, so we’ll see how that goes,” she mentioned, carefree and excited earlier than the Tour’s begin.
“Within the spring I discovered a bit about how the peloton works and I can climb somewhat however these final two days are actually large climbing days and I’m not skilled for that,” she mentioned.
As an alternative, Pieterse is greater than keen to play a supporting position for supposed GC riders Yara Kastelijn and Pauliena Rooijakkers, however she’s not one to waste a possibility to ‘have some enjoyable with it’ both.
That ‘enjoyable’ was had on Stage 4. The blue jerseys of Fenix-Deceuninck have been by no means removed from the entrance, using aggressively and serving to Kastelijn earn factors for the climber’s jersey. On Côte de la Roche-aux-Faucons, the day’s last launchpad, Kastelijn couldn’t fairly sustain with tempo and so Pieterse claimed the factors excessive of the climb herself, transferring her into the polka-dot jersey for the subsequent day. Over the summit, solely Pieterse, Rooijakkers, yellow-jersey wearer Demi Vollering (SD Worx – Protime) and Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) have been left on the entrance. Off the quarter went, hoping to remain away from the peloton as Liège neared. Of their battle for the final bonus factors of the day, Rooijakkers fell off the again. Now, solely three have been left and, as Pieterse put it after the race, the poker sport started with 1K to go.
Within the sprint to the road, Niewiadoma made a last-ditch try to lose the sooner sprinter however it was too late. Pieterse jumped first with 300 metres but to go. However she held off her compatriot by a tyre width to say her first UCI highway win.
Whereas she was in disbelief, her workforce director, Michel Cornelisse, expressed nothing however delight and confidence, stating: “When Puck participates, she solely needs one factor, and that’s to win.”
“I feel she proved as we speak what she’s able to,” Cornelisse informed Biking Weekly. “If she will win right here in Liège as we speak, why couldn’t she win Liège Bastogne Liège?”
The times forward are not any Classics programs, nevertheless. These wanting to carry on to a jersey of any sort should greatest among the greatest climbs in biking, together with the most important icon of the Tour de France itself: the Alpe d’Huez.
Nonetheless, Cornelisse has nothing however religion.
“We now have two playing cards to play with. We all know Pauliena [Rooijakkers] can deal with the excessive mountains and I’ve little doubt [Pieterse] can maintain her personal within the mountain,” he mentioned. “She’s in such good kind. She’s definitely not going at hand the win over.”
Pieterse can also be not unfamiliar with the Alpe d’Huez. She previewed the climb on August third when she managed to climb herself onto the Strava leaderboard with the third-best time behind former professional and knowledgeable climber Emma Pooley and British nationwide hill climb champion Illi Gardner.
When requested if she has any goals on the highway, Pieterse mentioned she does, each these “are most likely a bit futher sooner or later.”
That future could also be coming prior to she thinks, nevertheless, with an opportunity to show herself up Alpe d’Huez simply days away.
Take observe as a result of Puck Pieterse is doing greater than ‘simply feeling it out’—she’s making her mark, and he or she’s solely simply beginning out.
