Puck Pieterse is assessing the physical damage after crashing during Sunday's Dutch National Cyclo-cross Championships in Huijbergen.
As defending champion, Pieterse had started the race hoping to retain the Driekleur, but a crash on the third lap of the challenging course saw the 23-year-old lose contact with Fenix-Premier Tech teammate Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, who went on to win by 16 seconds.
Conditions on the course were treacherous, with lying snow in the surrounding fields and the top surface melting slightly as the race went on, making the surface under the wheel unpredictable. Pieterse and Alvarado were clear of their rivals when the former crashed on an otherwise benign right-hand bend.
"I'll take a quick look at the damage. Of course, you ride on adrenaline in such a race, but I don't think I had a good fall," she told assembled media after the race. "I was lucky that I didn't fly into the fences or fall on my shoulder, but I actually fell flat on my back, and yes, I immediately felt that it wasn't good.
"I've never been able to do a front flip before," she added with characteristic humour.
The crash comes at a crucial time in the season, with the World Championships less than three weeks away and held on the course in Hulst where Pieterse has won twice before. The upcoming races will be key to her preparation if she's to add a first elite cyclo-cross rainbow jersey to the under-23 title she won in 2022.
The first of those lead-in races comes on Sunday, the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup returning in Benidorm, but Pieterse is not yet certain whether she can start after Sunday's crash.
"It's not completely certain; it also depends a bit on my back," she said.
Pieterse returned to the cyclo-cross field last month, finishing fourth in her first race, the World Cup at Namur, and while she has so far only bagged one win, at the night race in Diegem, she is yet to finish outside the top five in her nine outings to date.
