Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ) and Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) are anticipating another fierce yet 'playful' competition in Liège on Sunday, with both powerhouses expressing the level of respect they have for one another as competitors on the Women's WorldTour.
They are among the favourites who will line up to contest for the victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Vollering having secured two wins and six podiums in the last seven editions, while Pieterse finished a close second place to Kim Le Court-Pienaar last year.
They arrive off the back of Flèche Wallonne on Wednesday, where Vollering took the win ahead of Pieterse on the Mur de Huy. And no one could forget that Pieterse took her first professional victory in a face-off against Vollering on stage 4 of the Tour de France Femmes in Liège in 2024.
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"It's important to have respect for your rivals, so to say, they are also your colleagues because what they do and how many races they win is impressive," Pieterse said of Vollering on the eve of Liège-Bastogne-Liège in an interview with CyclingProNet.
Likewise, Vollering told CyclingProNet that she enjoys Pieterse's style of racing, "I really like Puck. We are competitors, but off the bike and even during the race, we joke with each other. We have the same kind of humour," Vollering said.
"During the race can still be playing around a bit. It is always good to fight together with her for the win because you feel that she is doing it in such a playful way, so I really enjoy her way of racing."
There will be ample competition lining up to win the tenth edition of the women's Liège-Bastogne-Liège with the likes of Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney (Canyon-Sram zondacrypto), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Paula Blasi (UAE Team ADQ) and World Champion Magdeleine Vallieres (EF Education-Oatly).
This spring, Vollering has won the overall title at Setmana Valenciana and one-day races Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Tour of Flanders and Flèche Wallonne, while also finishing second at Dwars door Vlaanderen and third at Amstel Gold Race.
“It was a really successful spring campaign for the whole team, so I’m looking to finish it off in style," said Vollering, who hopes to end her Classics season with another win in Liège.
"I always love this race a lot. I’m looking forward to doing the Redoute and the Roche-aux-Faucons, I’m sure I’m going to really enjoy it again.”
As for Pieterse, she is happy to be back racing in Liège but anticipates another challenging race, made even more difficult by the weather conditions.
"I think it will be a hard race overall, with headwinds as well, which will make it harder. And on the climbs, the pacing will probably be quite hard to make everybody feel tired.”
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