Puck Pieterse closes her MTB season in search of a triple rainbow

The Dutch rider Puck Pieterse will not debut her newly won rainbow jersey in MTB this year, instead she will try to get some more, this time in road and gravel.

Puck Pieterse closes her MTB season and now focuses on Road and Gravel World Championships

Pieterse impressively won her first Elite XCO World Championship at the beginning of September in Andorra, but instead of continuing her great form in MTB, she has decided to skip the rest of the World Cup races to attend the Road and Gravel World Championships.

The Fenix/Alpecin-Deceuninck cyclist is having a successful multidisciplinary season with great victories such as stage wins in the Tour de France or the XCO World Championship, not to mention that in the MTB Olympics only a mechanical problem kept her from fighting for the medals. Now, she announced that she will not participate in the last 2 rounds of the XCO World Cup to compete in the Road World Championship, in Zurich, Switzerland, on September 28, and in the Gravel World Championship, in Leuven, Belgium, on September 5.

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"Combining several disciplines sometimes results in having to make difficult decisions. After a successful women's Tour de France, I have the option to be at the Road World Championship in Zurich and the Gravel World Championship a week later, or go to the XCO World Cups abroad. I believe that competing in a World Championship is always special and something I don't want to miss, so I chose the first option. In return, this means that I will not wear my rainbow jersey or be able to defend my second place in the overall standings this year. Next year I will definitely return to compete in the World Cup giving my 100%. I'm looking forward to it"