One-handed wheelies on the mountain bike, bunnyhops and tailwhips on the cyclo-cross bike, front flips on a snowboard, juggling while balanced on a yoga ball — Puck Pieterse is quickly making herself known as a woman with multiple skills.
The newly-crowned U23 Cyclo-cross World Champion is a gutsy one — be it in tackling new tricks or taking on her senior competitors. She may just be 19 years old but Pieterse is currently the only woman in the cyclo-cross World Cup circuit consistently hopping the barriers in competition, and she's not at all shy of mixing in and duking it out at the front end of the race.
At the Tabor World Cup in November, for example, Pieterse was bested only by the rainbow-stripes-wearing Lucinda Brand. She was second again in Hulst and Flamanville, and third in Hoogerheide.
In fact, the red-haired Dutch woman is rarely far from the front, and finished on the podium no less than eight times this season. On her way to claiming the U23 World Cup series title, she also finished third in the overall elite standings behind Brand and Denise Betsema.
But until last weekend, Pieterse hadn't won a race since the 2020 U23 European Cyclo-cross Championships. And what better occasion for your first victory of the season than the UCI Cyco-cross World Championships.
In an exciting, three-way showdown with fellow Dutch 19-year-olds Shirin van Anrooij and Fem van Empel, it was Pieterse who came out half-a-wheel ahead of Van Anrooij to claim the rainbow stripes.
"It's an especially nice reward for an already good season," Pieterse told Cyclingnews. "It's really nice to end the season like this."
Following the tire tracks of Van der Poel and Alvarado
Puck Pieterse hails from Amersfoort, in the center of the Netherlands, and grew up in a biking family. Her father, Joost, and sister, Isa, are cyclists, too.
"I started racing at the local cycling association, Eemland in 2011-12. I was nine or 10," Pieterse shared. "I started riding a few races on the road and then in category four, so two years later, I grew more interested in 'cross. I was actually already competing against Shirin in the end sprints in those youth competitions back then!"
While her older sister also raced, her mom and dad worked the pits.
Progression followed steadily and easily. Moving up from the regional ranks, Pieterse became Dutch National Champion in 2019 (Juniors), European Champion in 2020 (U23), and now World Champion (U23) in 2022.
"I hope it continues to go well every year, of course. I've been able to make a step up every year and I'm getting better and better at the front of the races. I hope that I can do it again next year," she said.
When asked about her technical skills, Pieterse explained that she's always been a keen learner and that she practices a lot, stating, "ever since my youth, I've always been eager to practice such things, and I'm glad that [my technical skills] have worked out so well for me in the competitions."
Her time spent on the mountain bike sure helps as well. Like her teammates at Alpecin-Fenix, Mathieu van der Poel and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, Pieterse is an avid and ambitious mountain biker.
"I'm going to take a little break now, and then pick the competition back up with the start of the mountain bike World Cups," she said.
The dream? Competing at the Olympic Games.
"The Olympic Games in Paris may come too soon, because you have to be an elite. But we'll see!"
