Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Premier Tech) won a thrilling round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Maasmechelen, holding off the pressure from behind to cross the line solo after six laps of all-out racing.
The Dutch racer finished 10 seconds ahead of teammate Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, who put in a blistering effort to almost chase down Pieterse, with Amandine Fouquenet (Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw) finishing third after an untimely bike change put her out of contention.
Pieterse had established a lead on the third lap, but mistakes allowed Fouquenet to get back up to her wheel, and a chasing duo of Alvarado and Sara Casasola (Crelan-Corendon) to close the gap in the chase. However, when Fouquenet suffered a flat tyre and had to go into the pits towards the end of lap five, it became too big a task to bring Pieterse back again.
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"I saw [Fouquenet] had a puncture and then I knew it was not too far to the pit zone, so I knew she would be back quick," said Pieterse, explaining her winning move. "But once I saw it, I directly passed her and made my attack – that's also racing, unfortunately, but she was super strong again, especially on this track, which is quite technical, so I was impressed."
Overall World Cup winner-elect Lucina Brand was away from her best with the World Championships in Hulst looming large a week away, finishing 10th, which ended her incredible streak of podium finishes, which extended back all the way to January 2024.
"It's a big relief to win a World Cup again, last cyclo-cross season I couldn't win one and it made me realise how special it is as well in 'cross to win a World Cup," said Pieterse, after her first victory of 2026.
"Sometimes, it looks like it's just some roadies riding in the field, but that's for sure not the case. This was definitely one of the hardest races."
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A former junior and under-23 cyclo-cross world champion, Pieterse knows all too well how to peak perfectly for Worlds, but after finishing second in 2023 behind Fem van Empel and third at the last two Championships behind the rider who recently retired and Brand, 2026 could be lining up for the Fenix-Premier Tech rider.
"Of course, I knew this weekend that the shape needed to be good already if you want to perform next week, and the last two weeks weren't the easiest after Nationals, and I'm just happy now that everything has fallen into place," said Pieterse.
How it unfolded
Lucinda Brand on a rare off day in Maasmechelen (Image credit: Alamy)
Pieterse was one of the top performers right from the start in Saturday's race, latching onto the early high pace of Fouquenet and her teammate Leonie Bentveld, with the young Pauwels Sauzen pair immediately applying the pressure in the dry, sunny weather.
The writing was on the wall for Brand after a small crash in the sand on lap two, when she popped out of a rut, with Pieterse and Fouquenet already establishing themselves as the strongest two riders in the race.
Despite the duo's lead ebbing and flowing, the orange jersey of Pieterse was constant right the way through the 47 and a half minutes of racing, and ultimately it was the puncture which ruined the French rider's chances, but the way she managed to close the gap once more when she had changed bikes is a great sign ahead of Worlds.
Alvarado admitted post-race that she could have caught her teammate, but that she was not going to do that given the threat of Fouquenet, however, this also means she is rising in form ahead of the season's main event in Hulst next weekend.
With Brand finishing so low – by her incredibly standards – the door is wide open to another thriller for the rainbow jersey.
James Moultrie is a gold-standard NCTJ journalist who joined Cyclingnews as a News Writer in 2023 after originally contributing as a freelancer for eight months, during which time he also wrote for Eurosport, Rouleur and Cycling Weekly. Prior to joining the team he reported on races such as Paris-Roubaix and the Giro d’Italia Donne for Eurosport and has interviewed some of the sport’s top riders in Chloé Dygert, Lizzie Deignan and Wout van Aert. Outside of cycling, he spends the majority of his time watching other sports – rugby, football, cricket, and American Football to name a few.
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