Short Track is a discipline vastly different from Olympic Cross-Country, yet it's just as effective in providing key insights to both riders and industry insiders. Just two days after her dominant Short Track victory, Puck Pieterse reasserted her supremacy by taking the win in the Olympic-distance Mountain Bike race as well.
The reigning World Champion set a blistering pace from the very first lap, immediately putting pressure on her rivals. Swedish rider Jenny Rissveds tried to follow, but after just one lap on the Val di Sole Bikeland course, the Rio Olympic Champion was forced to wave the white flag—the Dutch Alpecin-Deceuninck rider was simply too fast.
Pieterse maintained her relentless tempo all the way to the finish. Behind her, season revelation Samara Maxwell mounted a stunning comeback. The Decathlon Ford rider from New Zealand paced herself early on, then picked off one competitor after another to eventually claim second place, crossing the line 26 seconds behind the winner.
Laura Stigger (Specialized Factory Racing) secured the third step on the podium after an exciting battle with Rissveds (Canyon CLLCTV), who settled for fourth, and Swiss rider Nicole Koller (Ghost Factory Racing), who rounded out the top five.
Tokyo Olympic Champion Jolanda Neff (Cannondale Factory Racing) finished in seventh place, just behind Canada’s Jennifer Jackson (Orbea Fox Racing).
“Already during the Short Track I realized that Jenny Rissveds was going to be tough to beat — she had a really fast start. But on some sections of the course, I could tell I was able to go even faster,” said Puck Pieterse. “So I tried to use that to my advantage and managed to pull away from her. I was never completely relaxed on the bike because the gap was always around 30 to 40 seconds. I also made a small mistake, but I’m feeling good, I’m in great shape, and that’s just fantastic.”
Samara Maxwell leads the World Cup GC with 1253 points, ahead of Nicole Koller (912) and Puck Pieterse (850).
