Niki Terpstra

Niki Terpstra (; born 18 May 1984) is a Dutch former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2022 for six different teams. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Mike Terpstra. He is the third Dutch cyclist to have won both of the cobbled Monument spring classics, Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, after Jan Raas and Hennie Kuiper.

Career Early life and career

Niki Terpstra was born on 18 May 1984 in Beverwijk in the Netherlands.

He was part of the silver medal-winning team in the team pursuit in the 2005 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, together with Levi Heimans, Jens Mouris and Peter Schep. With a 4th place in the Three Days of De Panne followed by a 14th place at the 2008 Tour of Flanders, young Terpstra showed signs of considerable talent.

Between 2007 and 2010, Terpstra rode for the German . In 2009 Terpstra won the 3rd stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, gaining the yellow leader jersey at the same time, keeping it for a day.

Quick-Step (2011–2018) 2011–2014

In 2011, Terpstra joined the Belgian UCI World Tour team.

In 2012, Terpstra took a prestigious victory at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, winning in solo fashion after being on the attack all day. He detached himself from the break on the Oude Kwaremont with Jelle Wallays of . He dropped Wallays on the Paterberg and finished the race with an advantage of 47 seconds over Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel.

Terpstra crossing the line at the Roubaix Velodrome to win the 2014 Paris–Roubaix. In 2014 he won his first short stage race with the victory in the Tour of Qatar. Terpstra continued his good form in the classics, placing fifth in , winning the Dwars door Vlaanderen for the second time in his career, and placing sixth in the Tour of Flanders. On 13 April 2014 he won the Paris–Roubaix race in solo fashion, after attacking from the leading group of 11 riders with remaining.

2015 In 2015, Terpstra defended his Tour of Qatar title, holding the race lead after winning the individual time trial on Stage 3. At Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, Terpstra made the decisive breakaway of four riders with teammates Tom Boonen and Stijn Vandenbergh, along with Ian Stannard . After Stannard closed down a Boonen attack in the closing stages Terpstra tried to counterattack, but Vandenbergh closed the gap, allowing Stannard to attack with only Terpstra able to follow. Stannard went on to beat Terpstra in the sprint finish. In March Terpstra had some success, first by getting the second position in the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports. He then got on the second step of the podium of a very windy Gent–Wevelgem, as he won the two-man sprint for second position after Luca Paolini had crossed the line solo. In his next race, the Tour of Flanders, he broke away from the peloton with Alexander Kristoff from the finish but could not beat Kristoff in the final sprint, completing the race in second place. In June, he won the Dutch National Road Race Championships in a bunch sprint, surprising the pure sprinters.

2016 In 2016, Terpstra won the Eneco Tour after a dramatic rain-swept final stage that saw former race leader Rohan Dennis crash out. The stage featured cobbles and bergs used in the Classics first saw Dennis lose time, and then drop out completely due to his injuries. Terpstra, who started the final stage in fifth place overall, formed part of a front group of three riders and finished second behind stage winner Edvald Boasson Hagen .

2018

In 2018, Terpstra won E3 Harelbeke, soloing to the line after initially attacking on the Taaienberg with teammate Yves Lampaert with more than remaining. Terpstra finished 20 seconds clear of an elite group, led home by his team-mate Philippe Gilbert, and he became the first Dutchman to win E3 Harelbeke since Steven de Jongh in 2003. Terpstra won the Tour of Flanders with a late solo attack. After following an attack by Vincenzo Nibali over the Kruisberg climb, Terpstra dropped the Italian soon after, then caught and quickly dispatched a trio of riders from an earlier breakaway on the final climb of the Oude Kwaremont. Terpstra remained clear over the remaining , finishing 12 seconds ahead of 's Mads Pedersen from the earlier breakaway, and by teammate and defending race-winner Gilbert who led the bunch home in third. It was his second 'Monument' victory and he became the first Dutch rider since Adri van der Poel in 1986 to win the Tour of Flanders. The following week, Terpstra claimed third place at Paris–Roubaix, leading home a group 57 seconds behind winner Peter Sagan and Silvan Dillier .

Direct Énergie (2019–2022) In 2019, Terpstra joined French team .

On 16 June 2020, Terpstra was involved in a crash in the Netherlands. While motor-pacing, he was forced to avoid hitting a pack of geese at high speed, hitting a rock and falling to the ground. He was initially ruled out of racing for three months, but returned to racing at August's Tour de Wallonie.

In September 2022 Terpstra announced his retirement from professional road racing.

Personal life In 2021, Terpstra launched his own casual clothing line, Speed On Wheels, together with Futurum.

Major results Gravel 2023 UCI World Series 1st Halmstad 1st Meerveld 2024 2nd Hico, Texas

Road Source:

2004 1st GP Wielerrevue 1st Stage 2 Ronde van Midden-Brabant 2005 1st Omloop der Kempen 2006 (1 pro win) 1st Overall OZ Wielerweekend 1st Points classification 1st Stage 2 (ITT) 1st Ronde van Midden-Nederland 1st Stage 4 Tour of Belgium 1st Stage 6 Tour de Normandie 2nd Ronde van Overijssel 3rd Time trial, National Under-23 Championships 3rd Colliers Classic 2007 1st Mountains classification, Deutschland Tour 3rd Hel van het Mergelland 2008 3rd Overall Bayern Rundfahrt 4th Overall Three Days of De Panne 5th Dutch Food Valley Classic Combativity award Stage 13 Tour de France 2009 (2) 1st Ridderronde Maastricht 1st Stage 3 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré 2nd Overall Ster Elektrotoer 1st Prologue 9th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2010 (2) National Championships 1st Road race 5th Time trial 1st Sparkassen Giro Bochum 3rd Dwars door Vlaanderen 6th Overall Tour of Oman 2011 2nd Overall Ster ZLM Toer 6th Overall Tour of Belgium 6th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 10th Overall Tour of Beijing Combativity award Stage 15 Tour de France 2012 (2)

National Championships 1st Road race 3rd Time trial 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen 1st Amstel Curaçao Race 3rd Overall Eneco Tour 3rd Paris–Tours 5th Overall Three Days of De Panne 5th Paris–Roubaix 6th Tour of Flanders 2013

1st Stage 1 (TTT) Tirreno–Adriatico National Championships 2nd Time trial 5th Road race 3rd Overall Driedaagse van West-Vlaanderen 3rd Overall Three Days of De Panne 3rd Paris–Roubaix 6th Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec 9th Overall Tour of Belgium 10th Paris–Tours 2014 (4) 1st Overall Tour of Qatar 1st Stage 1 1st Paris–Roubaix 1st Dwars door Vlaanderen 1st Amstel Curaçao Race 2nd Road race, National Championships 2nd E3 Harelbeke

4th Overall Three Days of De Panne 5th Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 6th Tour of Flanders 9th Overall Tour of Belgium 2015 (5) 1st Road race, National Championships 1st Overall Tour of Qatar 1st Stage 3 (ITT) 1st Overall Tour de Wallonie 1st Stage 1

2nd Tour of Flanders 2nd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad 2nd Ronde van Zeeland Seaports 2nd Gent–Wevelgem 8th Road race, European Games 2016 (3) UCI World Championships

9th Road race 1st Overall Eneco Tour 1st Le Samyn 1st Dwars door het Hageland 10th Overall Tour of Belgium 10th Tour of Flanders 2017 3rd Tour of Flanders 3rd Paris–Tours 4th Gent–Wevelgem 2018 (3)

1st Tour of Flanders 1st E3 Harelbeke 1st Le Samyn 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Adriatica Ionica Race 2nd Time trial, National Championships 2nd Paris–Tours 3rd Paris–Roubaix 9th Overall BinckBank Tour 9th Dwars door Vlaanderen 2019 2nd Dwars door het Hageland 2nd Paris–Tours 3rd Overall Tour Poitou-Charentes en Nouvelle-Aquitaine 3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 3rd Le Samyn 3rd Circuit de Wallonie 4th Duo Normand (with Anthony Turgis) 5th Time trial, National Championships 7th Antwerp Port Epic 10th Chrono des Nations 10th Tour de Vendée

Grand Tour general classification results timeline Grand Tour 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Giro d'ItaliaDid not contest during his career Tour de France — 136 152 DNF 134 — 149 94 — — — 119 DNF — Vuelta a España 142 — — 95 — 127 — — DNF 139 130 — — 136

Classics results timeline Terpstra celebrates winning the 2014 Dwars door Vlaanderen, his second victory in the race.

Major championships results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish DSQ Disqualified OTL Outside time limit NH Not held

Track

2004 1st Scratch, National Championships 2005 National Championships 1st Scratch 1st Points race

2006 National Championships 1st Individual pursuit 1st Madison (with Wim Stroetinga) 2007 National Championships 1st Scratch 1st Madison (with Wim Stroetinga) 2011 2nd Madison, National Championships (with Yoeri Havik) 2013 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Iljo Keisse) 2014 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Iljo Keisse) 1st Six Days of Amsterdam (with Yoeri Havik) 2015 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Iljo Keisse) 2016 3rd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Yoeri Havik) 2019 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Thomas Boudat) 2022 2nd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Yoeri Havik)