Last year Puck Pieterse was on the podium across the three Ardennes Classics but there is no pressure to try and live up to that record, with the Fenix-Premier Tech rider recognising that even though her form is at a similar level, the rest of the peloton isn’t.
The 23-year-old Dutch rider who last year took third at Amstel Gold Race, won La Flèche Wallonne and was second at Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes , started off this week’s run with tenth in the opening event, saying while she didn’t have her “best legs” at Amstel Gold Race it was about more than that..
Article continues below
A prime example of this, says Pieterse, is FDJ United-SUEZ who won De Brabantse Pijl with Célia Gery, Paris-Roubaix with Franziska Koch, Tour of Flanders with Demi Vollering and Strade Bianche with Elise Chabbey.
“They’ve already won Classics with four different riders this spring, which says a lot. The overall level has clearly increased.”
“Of course you want that again,” she said of last year’s successful Ardennes run, “but it won’t be easy. I’d rather have one real standout result than three podiums.
“Hopefully I can get that one big result, but I don’t feel the need to match anything. I’m in good shape, I’ll do my best, and we’ll see where that takes us.”
What’s more for Wednesday’s La Flèche Wallonne she will be lining up with the number one on her back and with a team behind her that knows what it needs to do to help her chase it once again.
“Everyone knows what to do at the right moments,” said Pieterse. “The tactics won’t change much. Like most teams: keep it together until the foot of the Mur and then go all out.”
Get unlimited access to our unrivalled 2026 Spring Classics coverage with a Cyclingnews subscription. We’ll bring you breaking news, reports, and analysis from some of the biggest races on the calendar, including La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Find out more.