Niki Terpstra will prefer the World Championships and the London Olympics over the Tour de France 2012
Niki Terpstra of Team Omega Pharma-QuickStep is currently enjoying a terrific run of form with numerous good performances in the classics season.
The cyclist claimed the first overall spot at the Dwars door Vlaanderen, 5th at the Paris-Roubaix and 6th at the Tour of Flanders.
The 27-year-old is a strong member of Team Omega Pharma-Quick Step and has helped the team with his superb performances since his joining.
Terpstra joined the Belgian side, Team Quick Step in 2011 and is continuing his second consecutive season with the team.
He also represented Team Bert Story-Piels (2003-04), Team AXA (2005), Team Ubbink-Syntec (2006) and Team Milram through 2007-10 seasons.
The Dutch also helped his team leader Tom Boonen with his superb results in the 2012 season.
Boonen currently leads the UCI Elite Men World Tour rankings with a total number of 366 UCI points to his credit.
Despite his terrific form, Terpstra has revealed that he will miss the most prestigious cycling event of the year, Tour de France 2012.
He told De Telegraaf, “The Tour de France does not really fit in my program, I will ride the Vuelta a Espana, because that is again ideal preparation for the road world championships”.
Niki noted that he will prefer riding the 2012 Olympic Games and the World Championships and will skip the Tour de France.
“So I have had to choose between the two great races, because both are certainly not possible in a year like this”.
The cyclist participated at the Tour on a total number of four occasions but has not claimed any stages.
“Everyone in the team is also in full agreement with me that the Olympics and world championship races have been better for me to peak”.
"This doesn't mean that in future I will never start the Tour again, but my next big goal is the national championships ".
The Belgian team will be built around Tom Boonen during the Tour de France 2012.
The 99th edition of the French Grand Tour is scheduled from 30June- 22July which will test the cyclists across a gruelling distance of 3,484.1 kilometres.
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