Niki Terpstra explains reasons behind DNF at Unbound: "The irritation became unbearable"

"We are back home from our trip to Gravellocos and Unbound," begins the Dutchman from North Holland. "I absolutely enjoyed being on the road with a group of friends, doing what we love most. Racing seriously, but at the same time having a lot of fun and plenty of laughs along the way with the guys," said the member of the so-called Dutch Mafia.

"From a sporting perspective, it wasn’t a success for me," Terpstra admitted. "Over the past few weeks I have been riding with a lot of pain in my neck and shoulder, caused by a crash back in April. I can still ride, but it is not comfortable. The longer I am on the bike and the faster the race gets, the more the pain sets in."

"That is exactly what happened at Unbound," explained Terpstra. "After more than 200 kilometres of racing through the rough terrain of the Flint Hills, the irritation became unbearable. I had to pull out of the race at the second feed zone."

"My disappointment quickly faded when I saw how well my fellow Dutch riders performed," Terpstra said. "Ramon and Jasper (Sinkeldam and Ockeloen) both finished in the top ten, and Laurens (ten Dam) took fourth in the XL. But most of all, it was great to see Ivar (Slik) back racing competitively after his bad crash last year."

"For me, it is now time to recover and wait until I am ready to return to racing. I cannot wait to start planning some more gravel races once my body feels right again. Despite the DNF, I wouldn’t have missed this trip to Texas and Kansas for anything."