Puck Pieterse is still one of the main absentees in cyclocross for now, but the all-rounder from Fenix-Deceuninck seems set to return to the field in three weeks. Pieterse appears to be targeting a comeback at the Namur World Cup, although she is keeping her options open.
On the popular training app Strava, it can be seen that Pieterse is still currently in Spain with her boyfriend Darren van Bekkum, who rides for XDS Astana. Pieterse is preparing herself around Girona for her return to cyclocross, but when will the 23-year-old Dutch rider pin on a race number again?
On Strava, Pieterse reveals quite a bit. "I will start my cyclocross season at the earliest on December 14," she writes. She is referring to a (possible) participation in the Namur cyclocross. This grueling mountain stage on the slopes of the Namur Citadel—with its notorious steep side—is part of the World Cup.
It’s no surprise that Pieterse is aiming for the Namur World Cup race, as she also started her season with this race last year. After that, the versatile rider competed in ten more cyclocross races, with the World Championships in Liévin, France, as the highlight.
On French soil, Pieterse missed out on the world title—she had to concede to fellow Dutch riders Fem van Empel and Lucinda Brand—but she did claim the Dutch national championship and won the famous Duinencross in Koksijde.
