"Who will be the new sheriff in the Texas of Flanders?" So read the poster for last week’s E3 Harelbeke, which featured a Tom Boonen lookalike in Western garb to mark the first edition of the race since Tommeke hung up his wheels a year ago.
By the end of the afternoon, it was Boonen's old teammate Niki Terpstra who was standing atop the podium in Harelbeke, after going on the attack with 70 kilometres to go and riding alone for the final 20 kilometres. His face fixed a seemingly permanent half grin, Terpstra has always carried himself with a certain swagger, yet he has always been curiously reticent to lay any claim to the badge of outright leadership at Quick-Step Floors.
As the Tour of Flanders approaches, Terpstra is one of the top contenders for victory, but even now, he is quietly insistent that he will set out from Antwerp as one of four Quick-Step riders with equal status, alongside defending champion Philippe Gilbert, Dwars door Vlaanderen winner Yves Lampaert and Zdenek Stybar.
ADVERTISEMENT
Terpstra's public emphasis on the collective seems difficult to reconcile with his reputation as an individualist, a tag that, rightly or wrongly, took hold in the popular imagination during the early part of his tenure at Quick-Step. During that time, he seemed rather more adept at combining team duties with personal glory than teammates like the more obviously selfless Sylvain Chavanel.
The characterisation surfaced again in the finale of E3 Harelbeke last week, when Terpstra – and teammate and breakaway companion Yves Lampaert – appeared in no mood to wait for their fellow Quick-Step Floors man Philippe Gilbert, who was trying to bridge across after accelerating on the Karnemelkbeekstraat. Terpstra bristles at the suggestion that he is given to pre-empting attacks or ignoring team orders.
"Whoever says that, doesn't know anything about cycling," Terpstra said earlier this week. "Feel free to ask my teammates. Or ex-teammates. I don't care whether it's a climber, sprinter or Classics rider. It's called give and take."
Leadership
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/terpstra-an-individualist-and-a-team-player
No comments:
Post a Comment