Rising star Puck Pieterse believes her winter cyclo-cross experience was critical to her gritty but tactical win in the first round of the UCI Mountain Bike Cross-country World Cup.

The 21-year-old took the top step on the Olympic format podium at Nove Mesto Na Morave after a bar-to-bar battle with one of the sport’s most-decorated riders, multiple World Champion Pauline Ferrand-Prevot (Ineos Grenadiers).

It was the Alpecin Deceunik rider’s elite debut and belied her lack of experience at the level with few expecting to see her best the World Champion.

But, despite her relative youth, the Dutch rider has already achieved a huge amount in both mountain biking and cyclocross. In 2022 as a U23 mountain biker she wore the European champions jersey and was second at the World Champs in Les Gets. And in cyclocross, as a U23, she was World Champion in 2022 and then finished second in the elite Worlds earlier this year and second in the overall World Cup.

She explains that, in common with men’s elite race winner at Nove Mesto Tom Pidcock, a winter racing cyclocross paid off for her.

“During the race I thought she [Pauline Ferrand-Prevot] would have the upper hand because has so much experience but I may be new in the elite field in the mountain bike but I did a whole cross season which was also sometimes quite close in the end.

“So I also knew my tactics and I knew a bit what to do.”

Pieterse, who also placed fifth in the Strade Bianchi Donne road race earlier this year, said cross had turned out to be the perfect preparation.

“For me apparently it was…I just like to combine both disciplines and until this point it fits quite well together.”

Pieterse, who came fourth in the round two Short Track race wears the leader’s jersey at Lenzerheide in the Olympic race and competed here only once in the U23 field last year.

She said that Nove Mesto was her fourth race at that venue and that Lenzerheide was more of an unknown quantity for her.

“There’s a lot of roots and so you really need to find your flow here a bit. I rode here only once before so I’ll have to see how it goes this weekend.”