Dutch sweep U23 women’s podium at Worlds, Puck Pieterse triumphs
It was her first win of the season, but what a win for the fourth-ranked woman in the world: Puck Pieterse was the fastest in a sprint with Dutch teammate Shirin van Anrooij in Sunday’s U23 women’s race at the Fayetteville 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships. Like the Belgian U23 men on Saturday, the Dutch swept the podium. The top Canadian was Katelyn Walcroft.
You can watch the 2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships at FloBikes.
The Course
The Ozark Mountains route was fast and dry, unlike October’s round of the World Cup. There was a curving 39-step staircase, a long steep climb that had proven decisive on Saturday, and short steep ramps that caused problems all weekend.
The Canadian contingent
There were three Canadian women in the U23 race: Kelly Lawson, Katelyn Walcroft and Christiane Bilodeau.
The Favourites
This race would be hotly contested by three young Dutch riders who had a lot of success in the elite women’s World Cup this season: reigning champ Fem van Empel, Puck Pieterse and 2020 Junior world champion Shirin van Anrooij.
The Dutch let French and American riders take the lead in the early part of Lap 1. American Katie Clouse led up the big climb. The three Dutch riders were in Positions 2, 3 and 4. By the second half of the first circuit, van Empel, Pieterse and van Anrooij were in a leading group with two French riders and one from Luxembourg. The Canadians occupied the last three spots.
Amandine Fouquenet was the most likely of the French riders. She pulled along the sextet at the beginning of Lap 2. Just like that, there were three orange jerseys at the business end of the race. Van Anrooij attacked the long climb, bringing Puck with her. Line Burquier and van Empel formed the chase duo, six seconds behind.
On Lap 3 of 6, the orange duo kept on their path to gold. Van Empel chased alone. Unfortunately, the Canadians were stuck at the bottom. Pieterse put the hammer down and distanced her compatriot. However, at the line, van Anrooij clawed her way back.
Van Empel returned to make an orange trio early in Lap 4, but a mistake saw her lag again. Kelly Lawson was pulled from the race by the commissaires. Once more, van Empel found her compatriots by the end of the lap.
The penultimate lap was where van Empel set the pace. Once more Van Anrooij tried to dash away on the long climb. Pieterse counterattacked. A German mechanical allowed Bilodeau and Walcroft to move out of the basement.
It was time for the bell lap. Surely someone would attack on the decisive climb. Pieterse opened it up from the front. Van Anrooij was dropped but came back. Van Empel and van Anrooij got caught up behind Pieterse on the vexing little climb that has bothered so many this weekend. Van Empel’s chain came off. Pieterse fly away but van Anrooij reeled her back in. In the two-up sprint Pieterse won by the narrowest of margins.
? #Fayetteville2022. W U23. Can you remember duel for CX World Champ title ended with smaller gap? (I have no answer)
? Puck Pieterse ??
? Shirin van Anrooij ?? pic.twitter.com/FQlYSA3LzL— ammattipyöräily (@ammattipyoraily) January 30, 2022
2022 UCI Cyclocross World Championships, U23 Women
1) Puck Pieterse (The Netherlands) 46:27
2) Shirin van Anrooij (The Netherlands) s.t.
3) Fem van Empel (The Netherlands) +0:12
20) Katelyn Walcroft (Canada)
21) Christiane Bilodeau (Canada)
23) Kelly Lawson (Canada)
