"I hope I can push those watts in the future as well" - Puck Pieterse takes aim for Tour de France Femmes glory after being inspired by Niewiadoma

Puck Pieterse is an extraordinarily talented rider, being one of the best cyclocross riders in the field; the reigning Mountain BIke World Champion; but also a Tour de France Femmes stage winner in the very first year that she raced a professional road calendar that was over a few days in length.

Pieterse in fact had a highly impressive year with Fenix-Deceuninck, who have given her the freedom to perform and almost fully replicate the talent of her men's team teammate Mathieu van der Poel who is also able to thrive on all three disciplines at the very highest level.

She rode to a Top10 on all but one spring classic she rode including the Tour of Flanders, Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Gent-Wevelgem, Dwars door Vlaanderen and podiums at the Ronde van Drenthe and Trofeo Alfredo Binda. She cemented herself as one of the very best on the road with lightning speed and after four and a half months away from the road peloton, she returned to racing at the Tour de France Femmes where she beat Katarzyna Niewiadoma and Demi Vollering in a three-up sprint on a hilly day and went on to finish the race in 11th place, winning the youth classification - and starting the final day of the race up to the Alpe d'Huez in second place.

"I won a stage, also a first road race win and first WorldTour win. That was something I didn't expect at all," the young Dutchwoman shared with Cyclingnews. "I tried to go in with the least amount of expectations and just to learn a lot. I think I learned a lot. I learned to push my limits." The Tour de France Femmes was an eye-opening experience for her, a rider who struggles in the high mountains but whose consistency and ability in the explosive courses has her among the very best and gives her a chance to even... Aim for more in the French race.

On that day where she won, she was the only rider to match Vollering and Niewiadoma who were ultimately first and second in the final overall classification in the climbs of Liège-Bastogne-Liège. "It was nice racing with her (Niewiadoma, ed.). To see how strong she is in those kinds of conditions is crazy. I hope I can push those watts in the future as well," she says of the Pole who won a dramatic race but may see a new rival in the future in Pieterse.