The 21-year-old Puck Pieterse became European mountain bike champion on Sunday. The Dutch won easily in Poland; Austria’s Mona Mitterwallner took silver and only crossed the finish line half a minute later. For the first time, a Dutch woman wins the championship.
Pieterse, this year’s mountain bike prospect, dominated from the first to the last lap and crossed the finish line with a big lead. With this she once again fulfills her promise: earlier this year she won the World Cup competitions in the Czech Republic and Austria.
Pieterse was already an established name in cyclocross. She already won a World Cup title in the U23 cyclo-cross last year. This year she finished fifth in Strade Bianchi, an Italian cycling race, and second in the World Championship for the elite. Pieterse wants to take a shot at gold on the mountain bike next year at the Olympic Games in Paris.