UCI MTB World Cup Les Gets: Puck Pieterse takes dominant win in Cross Country Olympic

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Pieterse emerges as an Olympic favourite after showing in Haute Savoie

CRANSMONTANA SWITZERLAND JUNE 23 Puck Pieterse of Netherlands competes in the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup Crans Montana Cross Country XCO Women Elite on June 23 2024 in CransMontana Switzerland Photo by Piotr StaronGetty Images
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Puck Pieterse (Alpecin-Deceuninck) showcased her Olympic Cross Country form only weeks ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris with a 2:37 winning margin over Candice Lill (South Africa) at the WHOOP UCI Mountain Bike World Series in Les Gets.

Pieterse broke away from the first lap, having come second to Alessandra Keller (Thömus Maxon) in the short track race on Friday, to ride solo all the way to the finish ahead of Lill in second place and Keller in third at a margin of 3:07.

“I'm just super happy,” Pieterse said immediately following the race finish. “On Friday [at the short track event], I already felt that so good legs but maybe I didn't take the smartest tactic.

“Now I know if I have good legs, that I can do it from the start, and I just tried to go full gas from the start and luckily it worked out," she continued.

“We had a really good training camp with the team and I'm just happy to show my good form here.”

Speaking about her early attack and race tactic, she said, “I knew it was a climber course so I just tried to push every climb to my fullest and then take a bit less risks in descents. 

“On the last lap I got a bit tired and made some mistakes, but luckily I had a big enough gap.

The win marks Pieterse’s fourth mountain bike win of the season, having won the CC Europe XCO, and the XCC at the World Cup in Val di Sole and Crans-Montana.

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Peter Stuart
Peter Stuart

Peter Stuart was editor of Cyclingnews from 2022 until 2025. Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at the under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.

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