We look back at the fine details of what led to Pak Peterse losing gold to rival Femme van Empel in Sunday's elite women's race at the 2023 UCI Cyclocross World Championships.

The two 21-year-olds have battled hard all season, sharing 11 World Cup wins in a fierce race that has cyclocross fans on their feet.

Known for her technical prowess, Pieters was the only one of the elite female riders able to bunny hop her board at Hogelheide. After a slow start, Pieterse caught up with her rivals and once again battled with Van Empel, also from the Netherlands, who used her bunny hop ability to put pressure on her rivals.

But as they approached a fast, slippery tight corner, Pieterse slipped out, giving his rival the margin he needed to win. Pieterse fell back to Lucinda Brand, who was chasing in third place and took the silver medal, while Van Empel was 39 seconds back.

"I didn't get off to a great start, but I got out in front right away and I knew I was strong today. For a few laps we looked at each other and saw where the other riders were going, but Femme and I kept a high pace." [I made a little mistake that cost me some time. I slipped a little bit in the corners.

Pieters' technical prowess has helped him win four Elite World Cup races this season and the Dutch national title. However, pushing the course to its limits on Saturday ended his chances of victory in front of his home crowd in Hoogerheide.

"In the end it's all about the details and how you're feeling on the day," said Hogelheide. Of course every race is different. I usually don't think too much about getting into the corners, I just go as fast as I can."

"Sometimes it works out like in Ovelaise [UCI World Cup], and sometimes you enter the corners a little too fast.

Former soccer player Femme van Empel also aims to hone her skills so that she can go toe-to-toe with her rivals in a few years. Former soccer player Femme van Empel also has a goal of developing her skills to be on par with her rivals.

"Puck jumped over the barriers and put on a show with his wheelies at the finish line.

"Our levels are a little bit the same at the moment, and to put a finer point on it, Puck is a little bit more technical, and maybe I'm a little bit faster in the first meter. So I think we're at the same level right now."

Pieterse and Van Empel were both looking for their first Elite World Championship win in front of their hometown fans in Hogelheide, and team tactics were never an option to secure the victory for the Netherlands.

The duo had made their thoughts known to the national team coach the previous evening, which might have worked against them had they been able to keep pace with themselves before Italian Silvia Persico dropped them back to fourth place.

Lucinda Brand, in third place, almost caught up to them early on, but the two denied that they had worked together to get closer to the more experienced countryman.

"Yesterday evening we said that with the national team, everybody just runs for themselves," she said.

"I could see Lucinda coming, but every time she got close, there was an uphill to the second pit lane, or a barrier.