🎥 Shotgunning beer and snowboarding: Puck Pieterse is truly a jack of all trades

Puck Pieterse finished second in Namur on Sunday. The Dutch rider from Fenix-Deceuninck achieved this by spending part of her preparation snowboarding in the Italian Alps, a perfect side benefit from the cyclo-cross in the snow in Val di Sole. IDLProCycling.com discussed the successful snow trip atop the Citadel of Namur!

There are plenty of examples of athletes injuring themselves while participating in winter sports, like Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who was sidelined for months with a leg fracture. This is why many sports clubs are not keen on athletes skiing or snowboarding, but in the case of the jack of all trades Pieterse, things are - fortunately for her - a bit different. "I didn’t drive thirteen hours just for a bike race," she stated on social media.

And so, the day after the Val di Sole cross, she was on her snowboard, where she titled her Strava file of fourteen descents as 'recovery boarding'. "Snowboarding was good strength training, staying in that squat position all day," she laughs as she mimics her snow moves. "Just kidding, but it really did me some good. Half of the team went to the sun in Spain, but this combination of the cross in Val di Sole and a bit of snowboarding also provided a nice escape."

"Ever since I started competing at this high level in cyclo-cross, I can't just go away for the Christmas holidays. So, it's great to combine it with Val di Sole," says Pieterse, who of course needed her team's approval for this. "I think it shows the freedom we're given. They let me do my thing to an extent, but everything else is well-structured. As long as I perform well and do my training, I'm allowed to do these kinds of things," she notes contentedly.

For the sixth time this season, the rider from Amersfoort finished on the podium, but so far, she hasn’t had the chance to raise her arms in victory. It must be slightly frustrating for a winner like her, but it doesn't show on the cheerful Pieterse. "I would have loved to win here, of course, but I have patience. A victory is bound to come," she says realistically. On the podium, she did manage to steal the show by downing her victory beer in one go.

“I want to win every race, so ideally as soon as next week. But we'll see, this was already a step in the right direction," continued Pieterse, who after a duel with Lucinda Brand ultimately managed to hold off her compatriot for second place. This, while Brand seemed to have secured the runner-up spot as she entered the final lap...

“In the last lap, I was a bit behind Lucinda, who had pulled away a little. On the last climb, I realized I was getting closer, but when she entered the last off-camber section with a small gap, I thought it was over. But then I really cranked up the turbo, and fortunately, that was enough," Pieterse recounts her version of the story from the cyclo-cross race in Namur.