Puck Pieterse has made it three wins on the bounce in recent races with another extremely impressive performance at the UCI World Cup in Hulst. With Lucinda Brand and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado completing the podium, Fem van Empel was forced to settle for 4th, her worst result of the season so far.
With pretty much all the big names in action, it didn't take long for the cream to rise to the top. Straight away the trio of Fem van Empel, Lucinda Brand and Puck Pieterse began to battle at the head of the race. Of the three, it was Pieterse who was able to stretch out an early lead.
As Pieterse extended her lead van Empel momentarily came into difficulty, hitting the deck on the third lap, dropping to fourth as a result behind Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado. In fact, Alvarado had also overtaken Brand and begun to chase down Pieterse.
On the penultimate lap, Pieterse's lead over the chasers had closed to just 11 seconds as Brand countered Alvarado with an attack of her own.
In a thrilling conclusion, the lead of Pieterse continued to dwindle towards the line. When Pieterse opted to run, the chasers, led powerfully by Alvarado stayed on the bike to come within touching distance almost. As Brand was dropped, her podium finish was suddenly under threat also from van Empel.
In the end, Pieterse held on to secure a thrilling victory ahead of Alvarado, with Brand keeping the final spot on the podium.
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