Puck Pieterse admitted that she got a ‘bit lucky’ at the women’s cyclo-cross World Cup in Hulst, taking victory after rival Fem van Empel had a crash that resulted in her rear derailleur going into crash mode.
The pair have been battling closely throughout the season with Van Empel taking four World Cup wins, while Pieterse won her first in Overijse last weekend.
The Dutch rivals were again locked in a battle on a difficult Hulst course ahead of their fellow competitors during the early laps, with an intriguing finale in prospect.
However, European champion Van Empel crashed down an off-camber bank at the midway point causing her rear derailleur to enter crash mode.
Unable to move out of her hardest gear, the Pauwels Sauzen – Bingoal rider was forced to run to the pits resulting in losing 54 seconds.
The technically gifted Pieterse took full advantage and despite crashing herself twice on the same off-camber banking, she held an advantage of 42 seconds to the finish.
It was Pieterse’s second World Cup victory in as many weeks, but she had expected a tough challenge from Van Empel before the decisive crash.
“I started really fast and had a small gap, but Fem (Van Empel) closed it in the second or third lap,” said Pieterse.
“When she took over, she crashed and I believe her derailleur was in crash mode. Her bike was a bit fucked and I got a lot of free seconds there.
“From then on, I just had to push really hard everywhere. It was such a hard race with all the climbing and I felt Fem was stronger on that part so I got a bit lucky today with Fem’s crash but otherwise it would have been a battle for first and second.”
Van Empel explained how she lost control of her bars on the slippery descent resulting in the crash which effectively handed the victory to rival Pieterse.
However, the World Cup leader still hung on for second, fending off Shirin van Anrooij and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, who were battling for the final podium spot.
“I crashed in the corner, my bar was totally out of control and my bike was in crash mode and there was a long time until the pit zone,” added Van Empel
“I used my fighting spirit today and second was the highest possible after my crash. Shirin was coming and Ceylin too, so I had to fight for second place and I’m happy with second. A few more points today so I did a good job.”
All three riders on the podium were again aged 20, as Van Anrooij finished third behind the battling rivals for the second consecutive World Cup race.
On a demanding course including steep banks and technical descents Van Anrooij eventually finished 1:47 behind winner Pieterse.
However, the Baloise Trek Lions rider was happy with a third World Cup podium of the season after suffering a heavy crash the previous day.
“I really like this course but before the start I wasn’t sure if I wanted to as yesterday, I crashed pretty hard on my arm,” added Van Anrooij.
“I couldn’t really hold my handlebars so good but I’m really happy I started. I did better than expected as I had hoped for a top-10 maybe, I wasn’t expecting this today.
“I was expecting the time gaps to be pretty big, but I wasn’t expecting them to be this big. It was really hard, the mud made it harder and it was really technical. “It was again a Puck show today, she was really flying over this course.”
