UCI MTB World Cup Les Gets: Puck Pieterse takes dominant win in Cross Country Olympic
Pieterse emerges as an Olympic favourite after showing in Haute Savoie
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.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Peter Stuart has been the editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
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 Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.
Most Popular
Latest on Cyclingnews
-
'It's not crazy to aim for the World Championship stripes' – Brodie Chapman picks up Australia’s time trial baton
National title just beginning for UAE ADQ rider as she takes over as Australia's leading contender after Grace Brown's retirement -
'Negotiations open with some big riders' - Mathieu van der Poel could be surprise 2025 Giro d'Italia stage hunter
Race director Mauro Vegni accepts that Tadej Pogačar and Jonas Vingegaad are not expected to ride the Corsa Rosa -
Toon Aerts wins Cyclocross Otegem in closing sprint
Belgian beats Laurens Sweeck and Joran Wyseure to victory -
Here's Tom Pidcock's new team bike for 2025, and here's why we don't think he'll use it
While the new Scott Addict RC Ultimate is impressively light, the Scott Foil is so aero we suspect it will be reserved for the high mountains only