Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) secured her first win of the cyclo-cross season, leading from start to finish at the Superprestige Diegem held in the evening among cheering crowds in Belgium.
The Dutch Champion has competed in five races so far, all World Cups, but has only managed podiums on two occasions. In Diegem, she crossed the finish line with a solo victory 11 seconds ahead of runner-up Marie Schreiber (SD Worx-Protime) and 47 seconds ahead of third-placed and teammate Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado.
The evening shadows cast across the start line at the elite women's Superprestige Diegem as Pieterse took off into the lead, followed by Schreiber onto the technical circuit.
Pieterse's teammate, Alvarado, eventually bridged across to form a leading trio, but as the riders hit the sluggish sand pit with deep sections, Alvarado fell off pace and drifted back.
Pieterse put pressure on Schreiber through the sand on the third lap, causing the Luxembourg Champion to lose contact. The Dutch rider orbited the circuit flawlessly and gradually gained 10 seconds on her rival.
Alvarado started the third lap just over 30 seconds back with Blanka Vas (SD Worx-Protime) close behind. The pair of chasers were followed by Jolanda Neff (Cannondale), Rebecca Gariboldi (Ale-Colnago) and Aniek van Alphen (Sevens Racing).
Pieterse pushed the gap out to 15 seconds on Schreiber with two laps to go and 40 seconds on Alvarado, and she appeared to be ramping up her speed to gain as much time as possible ahead of the last lap.
A quick bike change meant Pieterse lost a few seconds and was in Schreiber's sight on the finishing stretch as they raced the last lap, but she managed to hold the gap all the way to the line.
Van Alphen leads the Superprestige series after six rounds with 71 points. Inge van der Heijden is in second place with 62 points and Amandine Fouquenet in third place with 61 points.
Results
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