After winning a stage of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in Liège last season, Puck Pieterse revealed that she will put a main focus on the Ardennes Classics this year once she begins her road racing season with Fenix-Deceuninck on the WorldTour in the spring.
The multi-disciplined rider concluded her off-road season with a bronze at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Liévin on Saturday after being beaten by fellow road riders and compatriots, world champion Fem van Empel and silver medallist Lucinda Brand.
In her third season of road racing, Pieterse has added Liège–Bastogne–Liège to her wish list of races to do well in this spring, especially after her success on the streets of Liège last summer.
“I’ve got a small break now for a week. I’ll go and do some winter sports,” said Pieterse, who ends her shortened cyclo-cross season having won the Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships and secured six World Cup podiums.
“Then I go directly to Spain with the team and prepare for the Spring Classics. I see progress. In my first year on the road, I stuck to two races; it was not a big season.
“Last year, I rode quite some races and also the Tour de France Femmes. It made me hungry for more.
“After the Tour, also Liège–Bastogne–Liège. I haven’t looked at the Ardennes Classics at all, just the Liège stage of the Tour.
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“This year, I will see whether Amstel Gold or Flèche Wallonne will be for me; I don’t know that yet.”
‘I can be satisfied with third place’
Puck Pieterse takes bronze medal at 2025 UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Liévin (Image credit: Getty Images)
Pieterse was a quick starter at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships and led the opening lap before putting both Van Empel and Brand under pressure as the three Dutch riders gapped their opponents.
However, the pace of her compatriots told in the closing laps, and Pieterse finished 1:09 behind gold medallist Van Empel and 51 seconds behind Brand. “I can be satisfied with third place,” Pieterse said.
“The tactic was to see where everybody was at the start. Then to try and conserve some energy, to be in there in the final, and see, from there, how the tactics played out.
“I looked around at the start and looked where the rest was, of course. I tried not to let myself be fooled. It was mainly a bit of showing each other where we could drive [on the course]—and trying to get into each other’s heads a bit instead of pulling through.
“I think that Fem and Lucinda had just a little left in the final. I actually drove from the time we were together, and I was just on the limit. When they pulled, then I felt my legs. Then, I knew it would be difficult.
“Until one-and-a-half laps to go, I was in the mix. The attacks at the front really started happening, and I didn’t have enough power to close them anymore. I’m just happy that it went the way it went. I think I can take enough with third place.
“Fem always wins this title, three times in a row. Every time, at the right time, she is super good.”
Van Empel, Pieterse, Brand and Blanka Kata Vas will be competing once again when they return to the Spring Classics.
While Brand has experience on her side, Van Empel, Pieterse and Vas are in the early stages of their road racing career.
Despite Van Empel winning three cyclo-cross world titles in a row, she is yet to win a professional road race. Her best has been finishing runner-up in a Tour de Romandie Féminin stage in 2023.
Meanwhile, Pieterse and Vas won stages of last year’s Tour de France Femmes. However, Pieterse believes that Van Empel has the talent and the strength to win on the road, too.
“We are already joking about … we are going to attack together with Blanka (Vas) at Strade [Bianche],” Pieterse said. “That shows how high the level is now in ‘cross.
“If you’re top on the road, you don’t necessarily have to be good at ‘cross. If road riders would join us in ‘cross, they wouldn’t get close to the podium. You also see that it is conversely difficult to shift from ‘cross to the road.
“I think Fem is a slightly more explosive racer like me. For the rest, I think we’re pretty much the same. I think Fem can race a little more with her head. I let them feel a little bit, which is not necessarily a bad thing. If Fem can do this in ‘cross, then she really can do it on the road.”
