Pieterse started from the second row in Salzburgerland and had to put a foot down in the opening phase. By the end of the first lap, which the leaders completed in around 2:30, she had already come through from a fairly long way back: nineteenth place, 17 seconds behind the front group.
Pieterse moves up, but not enough
Jenny Rissveds was the rider taking control at the front, while Pieterse did set the fastest lap of all the women in lap three, according to the data. That was about the only thing still easy to identify, because the heavy rain in the Alps had already left the riders almost unrecognizable under a thick layer of mud. In any case, on such short laps it remained very difficult to make up a lot of time.
Swiss riders Alessandra Keller and Sina Frei tried to put pressure on Sweden’s Rissveds at the front, with Keller choosing to attack on the penultimate lap. Rissveds responded and even added another acceleration of her own, but in the end it was Frei who once again came away with the victory.
Pieterse eventually finished eighth. Considering she had been riding in 21st place earlier in the race, that was still a strong performance from the Dutch rider. Anna Terpstra finished seventeenth.
Results of the Leogang 2026 Mountain Bike Short Race