“I don’t really know when I’ll start” - Puck Pieterse’s cyclocross return date remains uncertain as she welcomes old-rival Fem van Empel back
Cyclocross
Puck Pieterse has yet to settle on a date for her cyclocross return, with training due to resume in early November. The Dutch star has welcomed Fem van Empel’s comeback, having spotted signs of her preparations on Snapchat while taking a break after her own road and mountain bike season.
The Fenix-Premier Tech rider was at the Nacht van Woerden as a commentator for the women’s race, won by Marie Schreiber. Speaking there to WielerFlits, she said: “I have drawn up a plan, but I haven’t discussed anything with the team yet. So I don’t really know when I’ll start racing cyclocross.”
Pieterse’s season extended into October’s European Road Championships, where she took silver behind Demi Vollering. Her road campaign also included the Tour de France Femmes mountains classification.
“I’m still in rest mode, and I’m going to Girona at the beginning of November,” she explained. “That’s when I’ll actually start training again.”
Last winter, Pieterse opened her cyclocross campaign at the Namur World Cup on 14 December and went on to take bronze at the World Championships. She has not committed to repeating that timetable, telling WielerFlits that she will begin racing when she feels ready.
Snapchat clues to Van Empel’s comeback
Van Empel finished fourth in Meulebeke on 17 October, her first race after almost a year away from competition, before taking fifth in Heerde a week later.
“I perhaps hadn’t expected to see her back quite so soon, but I had been in touch with her a little,” Pieterse told WielerFlits. “I’d seen some photos on Snapchat, so I was already thinking: well, she’s spending quite a lot of time on the bike,” she added with a laugh.
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Van Empel joined FDJ United-SUEZ in September and races cyclocross through the associated Specialized TMRW project.
“It’s a really nice set-up, isn’t it?” Pieterse said, comparing the project with the Roodhooft brothers’ organisation, through which she combines her own racing disciplines. “They now have a vision of doing something more like what the Roodhooft brothers have, with some mountain bikers and some cyclocross riders, so I’m curious to see how it works out.”
Specialized TMRW formally launched on 23 October with an initial cyclocross squad comprising Van Empel, Celia Gery, Amandine Muller and Anja Grossmann. FDJ United-SUEZ has identified cyclocross as the project’s first step, offering its riders opportunities to develop technical skills and racing experience alongside their longer-term ambitions on the road.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- largely agree. but then he destroys all of his arguments with saying that 'It is what puts food on the table'. i don't know how in many 3star restaurants you have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner every day to spend your 2.5 mio € from that crivit deal alone ... how much more out of contact with the real world can you get?Ketterechts28-10-2026
- next year, there will be at least 3 riders in front of jonas at the tdf: remco, seixas and lipo. maybe lipo does not really benefit from the long TTs. but i find it hard to believe that people still cannot see the trend. until 25, there was never a doubt that pogi and jonas would share 1 and 2. but last year jonas made such an insecure impression that - although still at 2 at the time of his crashout - he was unable to put distance between himself and some of those mentioned above on mountain stages. all you need to do is to extrapolate this trend ... no rocket science.Ketterechts28-10-2026
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- OK, I agree with you, anything is possible when sh** happens, but I still think Jonas is better on the big climbs. Seixas will soon be better than Remco. We all saw he had no chance against Seixas in Il Lombardia.PogiSloFans28-10-2026
- or they pick the right races that somehow Tadej isn't in, likely Seixas, and Jonas too.mij28-10-2026
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- You had to mild injury I would suspect. A C7 fracture will cause sever impact on your racing ability in an extreme TT position between a sustained 300 watts and 400 watts over longer distances like we will see in next years tour, you will see Tadej taking a new TT position during next years early racing calendar that he participates in that incorporates a time trial. I've already spoken to people in that circle who are discussing it based on how he reacts as he starts training again on the tt bike. You will see this soon enough, call me out next year if I'm wrong. I'll be here.awp28-10-2026
- @PogiSloFans Yeah, I'm talking about what's possible, ignoring the "quality" question entirely. All Remco needed to win the Tour this year is Pog to crash 6 weeks earlier. That means Remco CAN win the Tour, even if it's not very likely.acem8228-10-2026
- I've had C7 issues my entire riding life some of which were road racing and it had zero affect on me or my positioning and I didn't even top notch massage people to work me over !frieders327-10-2026
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