Puck Pieterse added another world title to her palmares in the UCI Road World Championships in Zurich on Saturday, taking out the under-23 championship in the combined race with the elite women, finishing in 13th place, three minutes behind elite winner Lotte Kopecky (Belgium).
Pieterse's victory in the under-23 road race in Zurich came in harsh conditions, with rain and temperatures of 10°C. She out-sprinted Neve Bradbury (Australia) and Antonia Niedermaier (Germany) to take home the title.
"It was such a hard race, and it was so cool today. Luckily the girls got me through it a bit, especially in the final. I was really lucky to still have Mischa [Bredewold] by my side, because in the last lap, we got dropped, and then I knew it would probably be a sprint finish for the under 23s. Unfortunately, we never saw the front again anymore."
Her result was a bright spot for the Dutch team who missed making the elite podium for the first time since 2014.
"It's strange that I'm already two years riding elite world championships in the mountain bike and in cyclocross and then suddenly being in the under 23s again. But of course it's a really nice way to finish my time as an under-23."
Pieterse, who won the UCI MTB World Championships cross country race in August, has had a spectacular 2024 season. On the road, she landed two podiums during the Spring Classics in the Ronde van Drenthe and Trofeo Alfredo Binda, and a stage win and the best young riders' classification win at the Tour de France Femmes.
"I had a really good road season, Spring Classics, and then I did the Tour, of course, and it's just really nice to once again show my shape. It's good that there's a nice jersey with that, too."
The UCI added an under-23 road world championship title for women in 2022, with Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand) taking the first title and Blanka Vas (Hungary) the jersey in 2023. The UCI has now added a separate race for under-23 women, with the debut event in Rwanda at the 2025 UCI Road World Championships.
Off-road, Pieterse chalked up victories in the European MTB Championships in May but suffered a puncture that forced her out of the medals at the Olympic Games, where she finished a disappointed fourth.
When asked if winning the MTB and under-23 world titles made up for the result, Pieterse said, "It's really nice to have those two jerseys. But of course, the best situation would have been to have a medal at the Olympics as well. So it doesn't make up for it, but it's something worth mentioning."
"Everybody saw that I was in shape when I needed to be at the Olympics. And I'm also really happy about that. For the first time I didn't do anything wrong when I was preparing for it, and everything fell into place."
"I learned how to be in my best shape and not to have a result afterwards is a bummer, but I could still use my shape for the Tour and now for the road worlds."
Pieterse will race for one last world title of the season at next week's UCI Gravel World Championships before taking a break.
Get unlimited access to all of our coverage of the 2024 UCI Road World Championships - including breaking news and analysis reported by our journalists on the ground from the junior, under-23, and elite time trials and road races as it happens and more. Find out more.
