Puck Pieterse admits Fem van Empel's crash helped her win - "I was a bit lucky. Otherwise, it would have been a big fight for the win"

Puck Pieterse continues her streak of victories with the World Cup in Hulst. She beat Fem van Empel by a margin of 40 seconds to get her fourth win of the season.

"It was so tough with all the climbs, and I felt Fem was stronger on that part," Pieterse said in the post-race interview. Fem van Empel quickly took the lead for herself, but the crash cost her crucial time and she lost the lead. "I started very fast and had a gap right away. Fem rode it close after that. She took over the lead and fell.I think her derailleur went into the crash mode, and her bike was broken,” explained Pieterse.

She used van Empel’s crash to her advantage and created a 30 seconds gap. She held the lead till the end and added another victory to her achievement list. “I got a free lead that way, from there, I had to keep applying a lot of pressure. So I was a bit lucky. Otherwise, it would have been a big fight for the win. But I'm definitely very happy with this," Pieterse concluded.