Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) has been away from cyclocross for some time now, but he still managed to finish an impressive third at the Namur World Cup.

The 22-year-old multi-discipline rider won stage 4 of the Tour de France Femme and the World Cross Country Mountain Bike Championships this summer. He also won the under-23 road race world championship in September.

After a break from racing, the Phoenix Desseuninck rider returned to the cross field in one of the toughest events of the season at the Citadelle in Namur.

Any doubts about her form were quickly corrected, and Pieters powered up the opening climb to hold her position in the top group on a tough and slippery course.

Her teammate Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado eventually got away, with the experienced Lucinda Brand (Valoise Trek Lions) finishing in second place.

For Pieters, it was the first step toward the Cycloross World Championships, which will be held the first weekend in February.

“It was tough, it took me a little while to get used to it, and I certainly didn't do everything perfectly.

“I'm glad I didn't have any big crashes or silly mistakes or anything. I think Ceylin [Alvarado] was great today.”

“Lucinda (Brando) came back and I thought that was the signal to start chasing because Lucinda would still be coming up to me. Lucinda came forward from very far back, like a rocket.

“I'm happy with third place,” she added.

The Dutch rider will compete in 11 cyclocross races this season, culminating in the World Championships.

Pieterse said she has only been training methodically since November, but finished just 34 seconds behind the winner in Namur.

“[The training blocks] are not that long, but I still want to reach the level of the past winter,” Pieterse, who started the cross season a month early last season, told Het Nieuwsblad.

“Yes, I started later than in previous years. It's the result of our road and mountain bike activities.”

“Those seasons are getting longer and longer. Still, I plan on competing in about the same number of cyclocross races as I did last season. I don't think I've ever run so many competitions in such a short period of time, and for the first time I'll be running double weekends as well.”

Pieters said before the season opener that he was “starting to get the itch” after watching Brand and world champion Femme Van Empel (Vimalies a Bike) battle the previous week.

The pair, who have finished second and third behind Van Empel in the past two cyclocross world championships, are expected to battle again for the rainbow jersey.

However, despite an early exchange in Namur, their battle never materialized: the two went side-by-side on the first treacherous descent and Van Empel crashed out.

This was the start of a bad day for Van Empel, who crashed on the infamous off-camber descent on the opening lap.

The next lap, Van Empel tried to catch up to the leading group, which included Pieterse, on the same off-camber descent.

But the world champion crashed hard, dropping him to 11th, 1:18 behind the leader.

Van Empel finished sixth, 1-37 behind winner Alvarado and over a minute ahead of Pieterse.

“At the beginning it took me a bit of time to adjust. That cost us some time, but in the end we were able to keep fighting.”

“We lost a lot of time, but we never gave up.

Van Empel hoped Pieterse would come to Namur in good form, and Brand said her fellow Dutch rider would improve further after getting used to the intensity of cyclocross.

“I am very interested in her [Pieterse's] level,” Brand said before the event in Namur.

“She's convinced she's ready. But it's the first time she's dived this deep, so it's always a shock to the body.”

“It will be interesting to see how she reacts to it,” Brand added.

Alvarado has also consistently challenged the top three in the world, and the quartet of Dutch riders could be in line for a women's victory during the remainder of this cyclocross season.

“I saw on TV that the level of the top riders is close,” Pieterse told Het Nieuwsblad before the event in Namur.

“I actually want to compete for the win right away and stand on the highest step possible. [But at the same time, I have to see how my condition is and how my preparation will pay off; the World Championships in Lievin in early February are my main goal this year.”