“I will bring a lot of experience with me to the coming years” - Puck Pieterse reflects on impressive Classics season

Despite not taking any wins on the road so far this year, Puck Pieterse impressed many in her first full Classics campaign, as she finished no lower than thirteenth place in the eight one-day races that she participated in this Spring.

With third place finishes at both the Ronde van Drenthe and the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, as well as sixth place at the Ronde van Vlaanderen last weekend, Pieterse has established herself as to one to watch for future seasons, if it was not already evident from her exploits in cyclocross.

The Fenix-Deceuninck rider will not be riding in the Ardennes Classics though, as she switches her focus to mountain biking ahead of the Olympic Games in Paris this summer, where she is set to be one of the pre-race favourites.

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Reflecting on her Classics campaign, Pieterse said in an interview after Sunday’s race that “it’s a shame that my spring is already coming to an end. I really enjoyed it and would like to ride more. On the other hand, I can do that now, but I shouldn’t just put my other goals to the side”.

On what she took from her first experiences in many of the big races, she went on to say “I will bring a lot of experience with me to the coming years. This was only my first time in Flanders and to immediately compete for the win and be part of climbs such as the Paterberg is very educational. But that also applies to a competition like Dwars door Vlaanderen, in which you learn a lot about how such a final actually works and what you can best do”.

The Dutch rider clearly regrets not being able to win a race though, as she said “I had done just a little too much in Dwars door Vlaanderen. I also had good legs then, but then I did too much and that hurt me a bit in the final. Now I tried not to lose all my energy right away, but I was still pretty exhausted. In the end it was a matter of not being able to do better. But I did try to ride a little smarter”.

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