'My biggest goal is the world championships again' - Puck Pieterse makes cyclocross return in Namur with full focus on claiming her first rainbow jersey

Puck Pieterse makes her season-debut on the cyclocross field this weekend in Namur, and the Dutchwoman has her eyes firmly fixed on securing a first cyclocross rainbow jersey of her decorated career in seven weeks’ time.

Talking to Wielerflits, the Fenix-Deceunick rider also confirmed the outline of her multi-disciplinary 2026 season, which will look similar to this year with another tilt at the Spring Classics, before getting into the XCO mountain bike season. The Tour de France Femmes is also on her schedule before finishing off with another tilt at the XCO world championships, a title she won in 2024, but faltered to 6th place on her defence in Crans-Montana in October.

Pieterse had previously made a tentative commitment to racing in Namur, but the team confirmed her full schedule this week following a December training camp in Spain.

“The idea was to see how things went during the training camp, and then decide based on that whether or not I would make my return in Namur and I can now confirm that I'll be starting, so it should be good," she told Wielerflits.

“The most important thing is that my biggest goal is the World Championships again. I really want to be at my best there."

The 23-year-old has 13 cyclocross races on her schedule this season, covering the majority of the Kerstperiode - the packed schedule of racing around Christmas and New Year.

She will then look to regain the Dutch national title before gearing up for the world championships in Hulst on the 31st of January, although her team have stated that the three UCI World Cup rounds in January in Benidorm, Maasmechelen and Hoogerheide are only provisionally on Pieterse's calender, subject to how her build up to the worlds is going.

Namur is often considered one of the most difficult and prestigious of cyclocross races throughout the season, which is partly why Pieterse wanted to begin there. When asked what her level of performance she could be expected to hit, Pieterse stated that she believed she could compete and was looking forward to testing herself.

"Over the past three years of cyclocross racing, I've been able to compete for the win and the podium fairly consistently. I expect to be able to show that this year as well. I especially hope to have a great time and get confirmation that I'm in good shape,” she said.

“I hope I'm feeling fresh and can ride some good technical sections on the banking. Lots of spectators will be watching, which just makes it fun. If I wasn't enjoying it, I'd skip it and just focus on my spring season."

Pieterse's compatriot and men's world champion Mathieu van der Poel will also make his cyclocross season debut in Namur. World Champion Van Empel has not yet started her World Cup campaign due to an ongoing illness.

Looking ahead to the battle for the rainbow jersey, Pieterse was cautiously optimistic that the course in Hulst would suit her characteristics and give her a decent chance of winning for the first time.

“I have an especially good history with Hulst. Of course, it's a bit of a wait-and-see situation to see how the course adjustments work out, but Hulst is a circuit I enjoy,” she said.

Looking back on ‘a very good year’

Pieterse raced a full spring campaign in 2025, competing more on the road than she had done in previous seasons before turning attention to the mountain bike.

In the 11 one-day races she competed in between Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in February and Liége-Bastogne-Liége in April, Pieterse never finished outside the top-10. She took her first big spring win at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine as she finished on the podium of each race in Ardennes week.

She then went back to the trails on her mountain bike before a less-than-successful second Tour de France Femmes which was dampened by two crashes.

Asked to assess her season, Pieterse declared 2025 as “a very good year, with my best spring season so far.”

“Of course, it was only the first time I rode a full spring season. The first year I only rode Strade Bianche, in 2024 only the first month of the spring. And this year I simply took in everything from Omloop Het Nieuwsblad onwards. I actually really enjoyed that, with La Flèche Wallonne as the highlight.”

“After that, things went better than ever on my mountain bike in my rainbow jersey, both in terms of victories and by a wide margin. Around the Tour de France Femmes, I wasn't fully fit. Crashing twice there didn't help either. And after the Tour, my best was gone. All things considered, what I showed was definitely on par with the year before.”

Looking ahead to the spring, Pieterse wants to show the same consistency she did this season, expecting to be at her best over the short-sharp climbs of Limburg and the Ardennes.

“I don't expect to be on the podium everywhere this spring. I mainly hope to be on the podium every time, and then I'll see what happens.”

“I've shown that the Ardennes classics suit me well, so expectations will be a bit higher there. Especially if you win the Flèche Wallonne, you come back to try and win again.”