"They all know who I am" - Puck Pieterse bullish about her chances of victory at Strade Bianche Donne

After another impressive cyclocross campaign this winter, Puck Pieterse continues her developing road career this weekend at Strade Bianche Donne.

“It’s just the combination of everything that suits me well. I can save myself some energy compared to others on the gravel because I’m used to it but also there’s more climbing than in most road races, and as a mountain biker that suits me more,” a confident Pieterse says in a pre-Strade Bianche conversation with GCN. “The positioning is important too, for the whole race, and that suits me better than riding in the main peloton. You have to be aggressive and maybe riders will be more attentive of my racing this year. I don’t know if that will make it harder but they all know who I am. I want to answer with the pedals, so hopefully it’s not a problem.”

Although Pieterse hasn't shown herself that often on the road in her burgeoning career, last year the 21-year-old did impress at Strade Bianche Donne, finishing 5th. “They’ve changed the course a bit, so there’s less road in between the gravel sectors. There’s now two extra gravel sectors and the last two sectors are done twice, so there are basically four more sectors when compared to last year," she notes however. "The changes are tough, but in my opinion, they’re good. It’ll make the race far more selective, with the winning group will be smaller much earlier than usual. As a rider, that’ll suit my characteristics more — the harder the better.”

Already this season, Pieterse has impressed at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad too, securing a top-10 finish last weekend. As such, confidence is high. "I want to put my mark on the race. Last year was a surprise for me, especially when I was riding into the last few kilometres with names like Annemiek van Vleuten, but the most important thing this time is the performance, of course," she concludes. "It would still be nice to beat my result from last year and I think that if I’m on a good day, and everything goes well, a podium should be possible. But there are a lot of strong riders, so we’ll have to see how it goes.”