Thursday, December 28, 2023 at 7:47 PM
After the Gavere World Cup, Puck Pieterse also won the Superprestige Diegem. The Dutch champion, who was also the best in Diegem last year, rode away from her opponents in the first round and successfully completed her solo. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado, who had a bad start, had to settle for second place.
World champion Fem van Empel and Lucinda Brand were missing, but with Puck Pieterse and Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado there were two other top riders at the start in Diegem. Zoe Backstedt was also clearly there, because the British was the first to enter the field. Pieterse also had a good start, unlike Alvarado. The latter had to get off the bike in the first corner. A few minutes later she was not even in the second group, while Pieterse rode in front together with Inge van der Heijden.
Pieterse immediately creates a gap
Already in the first lap Pieterse left her initial companion Van der Heijden behind. The difference had increased to six seconds at the finish. Marie Schreiber came third, Alvarado followed in a group with Kata Blanka Vas, Annemarie Worst and Sanne Cant in seventh. Her deficit was 22 seconds. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider then seemed to gain steam, but after two laps she had not managed to close the gap. However, she had moved up to fourth place. Only Schreiber, Van der Heijden and therefore Pieterse were still riding for her.
Pieterse was soon ribbed – photo: Cor Vos
While Pieterse continued to push stoically, Alvarado continued her advance. She left Schreiber behind and then went up and over Van der Heijden. However, she did not really get any closer to Pieterse: the Dutch champion still had a margin of 21 seconds halfway through the race, after three of the six rounds. In the subsequent rounds that gap grew some more. From 21 seconds to 23 seconds, from 23 to 27. Such was the situation going into the final lap.
Win for Pieterse
Not much changed in that final round. Pieterse secured her second consecutive victory, while Alvarado retained second position. She still had to do her best, because Van der Heijden came close in the last minutes. However, the Crelan-Corendon rider had to settle for third place. Behind them, Vas and Cant fought a duel for fourth place. In the end it was the Hungarian who came out on top.
In ninth place we also see the name of Annemarie Worst. She was first in the Superprestige, but has now dropped to second place. Alvarado is the new leader.
Super prestige Diegem
Women’s results
1. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck)
2. Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Deceuninck) at 26s
3. Inge van der Heijden (Crelan-Corendon) at 34s
4. Kata Blanka Vas (SD Worx) op 42s
5. Sanne Cant (Crelan-Corendon) at 50s
6. Marie Schreiber (SD Worx) at 1m06s
7. Zoe Backstedt (Canyon-SRAM) op 1m09s
8. Sara Casasola (FAS Airport Services – Guerciotti) op 2m24s
9. Annemarie Worst (Cyclocross Reds) op 2m51s
10. Aniek van Alphen (Cyclocross Reds) on 3m36s
