Puck Pieterse is quickly becoming one of pro cycling's multi-discipline greats, upping the ante yet again when she sprinted to a stunning stage 4 victory at the Tour de France Femmes in a rain-soaked Liège and then sealed the event's best young rider victory atop the iconic Alpe d'Huez in August.
At just 22 years old, the Fenix-Deceuninck rider has already captured the attention of mountain biking and cyclocross fans through her winning performances and no-handed wheelies. Her success in her debut at the French Grand Tour now means that she is considering her prospects in road racing and dreaming about the yellow jersey.
"I think this week showed that there is something possible in the future, maybe when I am a bit older, so I look forward to that," Pieterse told the press when she was interviewed at the finish of stage 8 on Alpe d'Huez at the Tour de France Femmes in August.
Pieterse arrived at the Tour de France Femmes this summer directly from the Olympic Games, where she finished just out of the medals in fourth place in the mountain bike event, distanced after suffering an untimely flat tyre on lap five of seven.
She might have been disappointed in that result, but she had already built her off-road career; in cyclocross with an under-23 world title in 2022 and silver and bronze medals in the elite category in 2023 and 2024. She has also won seven World Cups across the previous two seasons.
In cross-country mountain biking, Pieterse secured her first elite world title, capturing the rainbow jersey at the World Championships in Vallnord, Andorra in September, just after racing the Tour de France Femmes. She has also won four World Cups across the previous two seasons.
Building out her multi-discipline career even further, Pieterse opted out of the final rounds of the Mountain Bike World Cup series to compete in the Road World Championships where she won the under-23 title. At the UCI Gravel World Championships the next week, she finished just off the podium in fourth.
Ahead of this year's Tour de France Femmes, the press asked Pieterse if she felt she had to choose between mountain biking, cyclocross and road racing in the future, but she said her schedule this season led to top performances in all disciplines and that she would continue to race in both.
Pieterse also had an outstanding road season with two podiums during the spring Classics in the Ronde van Drenthe and Trofeo Alfredo Binda. That led to a stage win and the best young riders' classification win at the Tour de France Femmes and then the under-23 road race world title in Zurich.
She admitted that, of all the road races this year, competing at the Tour de France Femmes was a last-minute decision, and although she didn't expect the successes she earned, she had felt prepared for her debut nonetheless.
"I went in with... I knew that the white jersey could be possible but that Shirin [van Anrooij] would be the biggest competitor, together with Fem [Van Empel]. I didn't expect it to go so well," Pieterse said.
"I won a stage, also a first road race win and first WorldTour win. That was something I didn't expect at all. I tried to go in with the least amount of expectations and just to learn a lot. I think I learned a lot. I learned to push my limits."
Pieterse also praised her Fenix-Deceuninck teammate Pauliena Rooijakkers' performance throughout the eight-stage race that led to a powerful final showdown on Alpe d'Huez where she sealed third place overall behind overall winner Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM) and runner-up Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime).
"It was nice racing with her. To see how strong she is in those kinds of [climbing] conditions is crazy. I hope I can push those watts in the future as well," she said.
Asked if part of her was thinking about swapping the white jersey for the yellow jersey in the future editions of the Tour de France Femmes, Pieterse said, "For sure, you need to dream big".
