Terpstra: World Championships are not rocket science

Niki Terpstra
The Netherlands' Niki Terpstra hopes an opportunity might come his way at the elite men's road race at the 2019 World Championships, despite Mathieu van der Poel being the team's leader (Image credit: Bettini Photo)

At the Old Swan Hotel in Harrogate, in Yorkshire, where the Dutch team were holding their pre-race media day ahead of the World Championships elite road races, Mathieu van der Poel was the centre of attention. While the debutant answered the same questions from scores of television crews, a certain winner of the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix and E3 Harelbeke was lurking in the background, something of a forgotten man.

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Patrick Fletcher

Patrick is an NCTJ-trained journalist, and former deputy editor of Cyclingnews, who has seven years’ experience covering professional cycling. He has a modern languages degree from Durham University and has been able to put it to some use in what is a multi-lingual sport, with a particular focus on French and Spanish-speaking riders. Away from cycling, Patrick spends most of his time playing or watching other forms of sport - football, tennis, trail running, darts, to name a few, but he draws the line at rugby.