Cyclo-cross World Cup: Puck Pieterse wins after nail-biting finale in Hulst

Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) took her third win of the week in Hulst on Saturday, beating Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in a fierce final lap battle to win the latest round of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup.

The Dutch national champion had attacked on the very first lap, and was leading solo for almost the entire race, but the chasing Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado finally managed to catch her compatriot on the final lap. The overall series leader couldn’t quite come past the younger rider, though, and a powerful sprint from Pieterse saw her take a big home victory on the line.

Lucinda Brand (Baloise Trek Lions), who had been chasing with Alvarado for most of the race, took third just behind the Alpecin rider, whilst world champion Fem van Empel (Jumbo-Visma) had to settle for fourth after a touch wheels on a tricky descent saw her distanced from the chasers.

“The whole race, I had a bit of a lead of between 10 and 20 seconds, I think. And then in the last lap I knew that Ceylin and Lucinda would be battling really hard, and 15 seconds is not much to catch up in one lap,” Pieterse explained at the finish.

“And then on a not even that difficult off-camber section, I made a tiny mistake and I came to a standstill and I saw all the seconds I had in the front disappear, unfortunately. But I knew that the part after the big steep uphill climb was my part - a bit of turning, a bit of sprinting - so I had quite a bit of self-confidence that if I was in the front after the big walking climb then I could finish it off.”

A long solo lead threatened in the final lap

Straight out of the gates, it was Puck Pieterse who led the line, taking with her Lucinda Brand and Marie Schreiber as a strong trio got away in the opening corners of the first lap. Fem van Empel had had a slower start, and was down in fifth on the opening lap, but soon found her momentum and moved past Brand and Schreiber into second, chasing Pieterse on her own.

At the end of the first lap, a charging Pieterse had 10 seconds over Van Empel, with Brand not far behind her, and the pair linked up on lap 2 to try to chase the Dutch champion together. Series leader Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado was not far behind in fourth position, and joined the chasers at the end of the lap, forming a strong trio in pursuit of Pieterse.

On the third lap, a collision between Brand and Van Empel on a steep descent saw the world champion come off her bike and have to attempt to chase back on, whilst Alvarado tried to take advantage of the incident and push on. The discord in the group behind played into Pieterse’s hands, and she was 21 seconds ahead at the end of lap 3, whilst Van Empel still trailed Brand and Alvarado by seven seconds.

Brand and Alvarado worked well together on the fourth lap, and had cut Pieterse’s lead down to 15, with Van Empel still struggling to make the junction. On the straights of the course, Brand and Alvarado had Pieterse in their sights, and a catch looked close, but the awareness of the presence of the chasers seemed to spur Pieterse on and she grabbed a few seconds back again. Van Empel, meanwhile, was close to the chasers but still not quite making contact.

Pieterse’s second wind had restored what looked to be a slim gap, and she went into the final lap with a 14 second lead, but a small mistake on one of the climbs gave Alvarado the chance to finally catch Pieterse right at the base of the course’s steepest climb but just a few minutes of racing left.

Alvarado never managed to come round Pieterse, though, and the Dutch champion pushed hard into the back end of the lap to keep the series leader at bay. Coming into the final few turns, Alvarado was simply unable to keep up with Pieterse’s charging pace, and the Fenix-Deceuninck rider went clear into the finishing straight, sitting up to celebrate her third win in a week. Alvarado finished second to hold onto her overall series lead, whilst Brand held off Van Empel to complete the podium in third.