Netherlands champion has to leave the Tour due to fever

Dortmund, 6. July 2010. Team MILRAM has lost its first rider at this year’s Tour de France. Netherlands champion Niki Terpstra was not at the start Tuesday in Wanze, Belgium, for the third stage. A cold and fever forced to 26-year-old from Haarlem to abandon.

„I am very disappointed and will now go back to my family, to get well again. Since Saturday I have been suffering from a cold and fever, and it just hasn’t gotten better,“ said Niki Terpstra frustratedly. „I especially had a lot of plans for the first stage. It was an honor for me to start in my homeland in the Netherlands champion’s jersey. The mood along the course was an unforgettable experience for me.“

„That is unbelievably too bad. Especially since the stage on Tuesday would have been perfect for Niki Terpstra. He is a strong Classics rider, who does well on the cobblestone passages on the course from Paris-Roubaix,“ said team manager Gerry van Gerwen. „Now he must get well again and prepare for the second half of the season.“