On Sunday Niki Terpstra timed his attack in the closing stages of Paris-Roubaix to perfection to clinch his first victory in a Monument, and now that he has recovered, he's uploaded his ride to Strava so we can gaze in amazement at the full details of his achievement.
There are quite a few professional cyclists on Strava and they're constantly uploading training and race activities, providing us all with a glimpse into just how fast these athletes are cycling, something that would have been unimaginable 10 years ago. This transparency has been one of the best things to come out of the popuarity of sites like Strava making it easy to share rides and races.
So, Terpstra's Paris-Roubaix winning ride then. He covered 255.2km in 6hrs 9mins 7secs, quite a staggering pace. The race was a fast edition, with good conditions, although his average speed of 41.5km/h was some way shy of the fastest ever edition of the race, that crown is held by Peter Post who in 1964 averaged 45.129km/h. Terpstra wasn't using a power meter so there is no power data which would be fascinating. A lot of riders simply race on feel in a race like this.
Anyway, go take a look at his ride in detail, http://www.strava.com/activities/130432764 and give him some kudos while there. He's currently on 2603.
David has worked on the road.cc tech team since July 2012. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds.