Niki Terpstra surprised at beating Bradley Wiggins in Qatar time trial
Niki Terpstra says he thought that Bradley Wiggins would 'beat everyone by 40 seconds' in the Tour of Qatar stage three time trial


Sky's Bradley Wiggins was supposed to win the Tour of Qatar time trial stage today, according the victor and new overall leader, Dutchman Niki Terpstra (Etixx-QuickStep).
Instead, reigning time trial world champion Wiggins placed third behind Terpstra and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing).
"I'm surprised," Terpstra said in the leader's gold jersey. "Yesterday, I said to some guys, 'I think Wiggins is going to win with 40 seconds on the second best rider'. To beat him, the world champion, I'm happily surprised."
Wiggins briefly held the best time at 14-12 minutes until multiple world champion Cancellara finished at 14-11. Terpstra, 2014 Tour of Qatar and Paris-Roubaix winner, finished the fastest and moved into the race lead with 14-03.
Bradley Wiggins says Qatar TT result puts him on track for Paris-Roubaix
The World Time Trial Champion placed third in his first outing in the rainbow skinsuit.
"It was a really good time trial for me," said Terpstra. "In the first kilometres, I was going steady, not full gas. I decided to save energy for when we turned into the head-wind. At that at point, my DS encouraged me from behind, saying, 'Up! Up! Up!'".
The 10.9 kilometres covered the flat roads around the Lusail Iconic Stadium, where the handball world championships were held last week, and the Moto GP track. The wind, which blew up to 40 kilometres an hour and kicked up sand over the Arab state, played an important role.
"The distance probably suited me more than it did Wiggins, and that it's on a normal bike instead of a time trial bike is good for me. And I was extremely motivated for the classification, that's also a big thing in time trials. You need to be motivated and focused,” added Terpstra.
>>> Bradley Wiggins third in Tour of Qatar time trial
"I'm sure he [Wiggins] was also motivated in the rainbow jersey, but he has won it already so..."
Terpstra moved into the race lead by 11 seconds over Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff-Saxo) and 12 seconds over Sky's Ian Stannard. Along with Cancellara and others, he will be one of Wiggins' rivals at Paris-Roubaix on April 12.
"I'm happy with my shape, of course. I hope I can still improve for the next two months," he said.
"Obviously, in 10 kilometres, my shape is good. I hope that in the long classics it's good, too, and that it doesn't go bad suddenly."
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
Gregor Brown is an experienced cycling journalist, based in Florence, Italy. He has covered races all over the world for over a decade - following the Giro, Tour de France, and every major race since 2006. His love of cycling began with freestyle and BMX, before the 1998 Tour de France led him to a deep appreciation of the road racing season.
-
-
Simon Yates changes tack after ending general classification challenge at Giro d'Italia
Team BikeExchange-Jayco rider to hunt stage wins in final two weeks
By Adam Becket • Published
-
The David Guetta of the peloton? Analysing Pieter Serry's Giro d'Italia playlist
We listened to Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl's playlist so you didn't have to
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Bradley Wiggins: Ineos Grenadiers victory at Paris-Roubaix was 'typical Dave Brailsford'
Former Tour de France winner spent the day on a motorbike covering the race
By Adam Becket • Published
-
How would Bradley Wiggins beat Tadej Pogačar? 'Buy him, and send him to the Giro'
Former Tour de France winner admits he would have struggled against a talent like Pogačar
By Adam Becket • Published
-
Peter Sagan wants Niki Terpstra to continue at TotalEnergies rather than retire
The three-time world champion says he wants to talk to the two-time Monument winner if he wishes to continue riding
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
Sir Bradley Wiggins: I hope Mark Cavendish gets a just reward - it’s the result of a lot of sacrifice
Wiggins celebrates the return to winning ways for his former team-mate
By Alex Ballinger • Published
-
‘He has that no nonsense attitude’: Sir Bradley Wiggins backs Simon Yates to win the Giro d’Italia 2021
Will Yates become the third Brit to win the Italian Grand Tour?
By Alex Ballinger • Published
-
Bradley Wiggins says Chris Froome ‘warrants a bit more respect’
Bradley Wiggins says Chris Froome “warrants a bit more respect” as he continues his comeback from career-threatening injuries.
By Alex Ballinger • Published
-
Adam Yates is the 'next British star' says Sir Bradley Wiggins
Sir Bradley Wiggins threw buckets of praise at Ineos Grenadiers after they dominated the recent Volta a Catalunya taking all three spots on the podium with Adam Yates taking the overall title
By Tim Bonville-Ginn • Published
-
Bradley Wiggins: 'Freeman case stinks to high heaven'
The former Team Sky rider says a further investigation is needed to get to the bottom of who the banned Testogel was for
By Jonny Long • Published