Niki Terpstra thread

[scholar]

As far as I can tell, Terpstra doesn't have his own thread here -- particularly odd after his successes last year.

I'm sure I'm not alone in really liking him as a rider. And I have the impression that a lot of people (both in the peloton and here in the forum) seem to dislike him. Beyond a video that someone recently posted of him using his elbows, I don't know why, but would be moderately interested to know why those who dislike him do so.

My (entirely fallible) impression is that he's someone who wins more on QS than he would elsewhere, benefiting more from opponents marking his team-mates (and Boonen in particular) than he misses out by riding for someone else. Relatedly, I vaguely (and again fallibly) remember Boonen being disappointed at missing out on Paris-Roubaix last year rather than pleased for his team-mate's win -- was that disappointment greater because Terpstra won than it would have been if, say, ?tybar had?

Anyway: discuss all things Terpstra here!

 

[ILovecycling]

Because nobody likes him

...except me,because he won me so much money last season that I was in the sky
Thanks for the thread.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

I'm a fan of Terpstra. 100+ race days and often competitive. Solid TT'er with a great position on the bike. Capable cobbles rider. Willing to take risks from the distance to try and win (probably the only way he can).

He will be ambitious again this year no doubt.

 

[Kwibus]

Terpstra can be an incredible pain in the *** and he doesn't mind adding some controversy.

Actually the reason that I start to like him more and more is because the growing dislike toward him. What I like most about him though is that he doesn'thave that typical dutch mentality. Most dutch riders in the bunch are just nice guys, while Terpstra is kind of an *ss and quite selfish. In the end it brings him a lot of sucess so I suggest he keeps on being who he is.

Smart rider as well.

 

[Miburo]

He's definitely a rider any team can use, really valuable. Don't really like him that much though;

 

[Hjulrytter]

I remember his break through in the Tour of Belgium a couple of years ago. Already then he showed to be the type of rider who is not afraid to attack, a characteristic that usually leads to high popularity... Maybe his image really suffered from the elbowing etc. Personally, I think he can be quite funny. For instance when he answered a whole after-win interview by quoting the lyrics of a song.

I think it's beyond dispute that he developed into a quality rider, who also benefits from being on a strong team. If anything, at least he is not boring. By winning another major classic this season he could make a final step up to the top-ranks.

 

[MBotero]

I don't get the hate about this guy,he's an interesting rider,aggressive i like him.Maybe his team is the problem,i personally don't like it.

 

[scholar]

I'm a fan of Terpstra. 100+ race days and often competitive. Solid TT'er with a great position on the bike. Capable cobbles rider. Willing to take risks from the distance to try and win (probably the only way he can).

I know we're in PRR here, but I feel his six-day wins at Rotterdam and Amsterdam are also worth a mention.

 

[Arredondo]

Great rider, horrible person.

 

[SafeBet]

What's wrong with him as a person?

 

[Akuryo]

What's wrong with him as a person?

He likes to win - at all costs. To achieve these goals he uses his elbows and stuff like that. He is selfish and also kind of arrogant after his recent success. But I still like him. Hard worker, races from January till December (road and track). Also pretty versatile. He is an excellent rider on cobbles, but also gets over some hills and got a decent time trial. Not to forget his success on the track in recent years. He won a lot of 6-day-races since he joined Quickstep. Most of them with Keisse, but this year also with Havik.

 

[ILovecycling]

I don't get the hate about this guy,he's an interesting rider,aggressive i like him.Maybe his team is the problem,i personally don't like it.

He is a bit selfish and rude,thats the problem.

Btw I just love your new signature

 

[MBotero]

He is a bit selfish and rude,thats the problem.

Btw I just love your new signature

He's just a bit too determined towards winning,but haters gonna hate

Courtesy of Netserk,I have no merit

 

[TMP401]

He likes to win - at all costs. To achieve these goals he uses his elbows and stuff like that. He is selfish and also kind of arrogant after his recent success. But I still like him. Hard worker, races from January till December (road and track). Also pretty versatile. He is an excellent rider on cobbles, but also gets over some hills and got a decent time trial. Not to forget his success on the track in recent years. He won a lot of 6-day-races since he joined Quickstep. Most of them with Keisse, but this year also with Havik.

Can't that be said about most attacking riders though?

 

[Miburo]

Nothing wrong being selfish as a rider, he's just kinda of ******.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

He's not less selfish then any other top rider.

But the way he reacts is really off putting sometimes. So I get why people hate him.

I do not like or dislike Terpstra, kinda neutral. I like his style of racing though. But as a person, not my cup of tea

 

[Arredondo]

Terpstra just acts like a *** in interviews and during races. Also in criteriums he shows a really poor attitude. In Dutch we would say a 'eikeltje'

 

[Flamin]

So does Cav, but everyone says he's a great guy. Some people can just be different persons when they do sports or play games.

And of course I like Terpstra as well, wonderful style on a bike.

 

[ILovecycling]

Terpstra just acts like a *** in interviews and during races. Also in criteriums he shows a really poor attitude. In Dutch we would say a 'eikeltje'

which means? (use dots)

 

[Arredondo]

which means? (use dots)

A ***

 

[Arredondo]

So does Cav, but everyone says he's a great guy. Some people can just be different persons when they do sports or play games.

And of course I like Terpstra as well, wonderful style on a bike.

Cavendish is a really nice person when he's off the bike, but a lot of people say Terpstra also isn't nice when he's not riding.

 

[the delgados]

It's always fun to hear stories about arseholes in pro sports, and this is the first I've heard about Terpstra.
Good timing, too, because the first thought that came to mind when I saw his teammate chase him down in the finale of Het Volk (it will always be Het Volk to me) was that his teammates didn't like him. Really, there was no other explanation for what happened.
And that theory was basically confirmed when Lefevere said Stijn was trying to hang on to Terpstra's wheel when he came through to take a pull.
Yeah, right!

 

[TourOfTexas]

He sounds like a good guy. We have too many "nice" guys these days.

 

[King Boonen]

Terpstra is 30. De Vlaeminck won his last cobbled monument when he was 29. Merckx, 29, Magni, 31, Buysee 32.


He's been in the shadow of other QS riders for a while and there's talk of younger guys (Stybar) being next in line. I'm not at all surprised if he's selfish and wants to win, he's clearly good enough to win more so all power to him.

I'll refrain from commenting on his character, some people don't like tv interviews or even interacting with people very much (i.e. in the peloton). He could be a nice guy or an ****, I'll not judge him on the limited amount of info available.

 

[jaylew]

He's been my favorite Dutch rider for awhile now. I started liking him during the Milram days. I liked his racing style, his style on the bike, and he seemed to be a funny, joking guy.

It's really just been in the last year or so that I've realized that some don't like him but I don't speak Dutch and I've never read any translated quotes from him that would change my opinion so I've never really understood it.