Month: April 2026

A bittersweet second place for Puck Pieterse at La Flèche Wallonne Femme, which saw Demi Vollering (FDJ United-Suez) win after attacking 500 meters from the finish at the Mur de Huy. 

 “This climb is all about being well-positioned at the bottom and going all out. When you start the Mur, you know it’s the most painful four minutes of the year. For sure it doesn’t look pretty, especially the last bit, when you start sprinting!”, said Pieterse, who had won the race in 2025. 

  “I had to follow my own pace, I didn’t want to stand still at the middle of the ascent. When I started my sprint, at first, I was hesitant and I came close, so I thought maybe there’s something possible… But Demi was just a bit faster. I pushed to the max today on the Mur, so I can only take a good feeling with me to Sunday,” added the 23-year-old FENIX-Premier Tech rider referring to her next race Liège-Bastogne-Liège Femmes. 

In 2027, the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift will make history once again. For the first time ever, the French Grand Tour will include a team time trial and will take the seven-rider teams on an 18-kilometer-long circuit around the heart of London. It will also start in the United Kingdom, making it the second time its Grand Départ has taken place outside French soil. 

For the presentation, Marion Rousse, director of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, invited British FENIX-Premier Tech rider Flora Pekins alongside Cat Ferguson (Movistar Team). 

“I am genuinely so excited for the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift to come to London, where I grew up riding my bike. It’s going to be such a special moment. I can’t wait to showcase to the cycling world what London has to offer,” said Perkins. “I also know this is an opportunity to share my love of cycling and racing with the people of London. I hope that girls in particular come out and see this race and realize that racing bikes is one of the best things ever, and they can do it too.” 

A special day for Charlotte Kool, who won Scheldeprijs Women 2026 after finishing second the last three editions. “It was about time. Today it finally happened,” said the FENIX-Premier Tech rider shortly after crossing the finish line. 

Following an impressive lead out by teammates Millie Couzens and Mylène De Zoete, Kool went full throttle in the last 200 meters beating Nienke Veenhoven (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek). “I’m really happy with it and we had a really good team effort to win,” added Kool. 

Puck Pieterse crossed third the Tour de Flanders’ finish line, 42 seconds after Demi Vollering (FDJ United–Suez) and following a sprint with Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). It is her first podium of the 2026 road season. 

“This is one of the most beautiful podiums, perhaps even a bit higher than certain victories. Think of a World Cup in cyclocross,” said Pieterse in a post-race interview. In the previous two editions, she finished sixth and ninth. “It is good for confidence, and it really makes you dream.”   

 The 23-year-old FENIX-Premier Tech rider described as “incredible” the crowds at Oude Kwaremont and Paterberg. “If you look at the climbs here, I was always right there with the best. That gives me a lot of confidence for the Ardennes classics.”