The World Champion starts her season with a victory: "It's great to be back on the mountain bike"

The current XCO World Champion Puck Pieterse kicked off her MTB season yesterday with a victory in the first Dutch Short Track Championship. This triumph comes after a brilliant first part of the road season and bodes well for the upcoming World Cup races.

World Champion Puck Pieterse wins the first Dutch Short Track Championship

Just two weeks after winning the Fleche Wallonne, Puck Pieterse has started her mountain bike season with a victory. She had not competed in this discipline since last September when she won the XCO World Championship title in Andorra, but that did not stop her from winning the first Dutch national Short Track title, held in the town of Hapert.

"It's great to be back in mountain biking," Pieterse commented at the finish line. "I think spring has been an ideal preparation for what's to come."

With this victory, she will debut her new jerseys in competition at the upcoming Nove Mesto World Cup (May 23-25), the national champion in Short Track and the rainbow in the XCO race.

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Now, Pieterse will focus 100% on mountain biking until her participation in the Tour de France next July: "Luckily it doesn't coincide with any World Cup," she said relieved. And she added: "I don't plan on giving up any discipline. With good planning, I can perform at my best in all of them."