Niki Terpstra returned to the peloton this week in the Tour of California after resting at the end of the Spring Classics that saw him win Paris-Roubaix. Now he is riding towards his next goal: a spot on Omega Pharma-Quick Step’s Tour de France roster.

"Tour of California is a nice race to get my legs moving again," he told Cyclingnews earlier this week. "I have some big races coming up this summer, and this is the start of preparing for that season. The focus gets on again and I need to get in top shape. I'm not sure if I'm doing the Tour yet. The team will tell us one week before the Tour starts."

Terpstra had always been considered a good Classics rider but his real breakthrough came this year when he won Paris-Roubaix. He also won Dwars door Vlaanderen for a second time as well as another top 10 in Flanders, 3rd in E3 and 5th at Het Nieuwsblad. In Roubaix, he was surrounded by teammates like Tom Boonen and Zdenek Stybar and he leapt away to win while his comrades marked the moves of opponents.

The 29 year old insists that despite Tom Boonen being the Classics leader in the team, Terpstra’s win does not change anything and he is no challenge to Boonen’s throne and that the whole team rides as equals.

"I've been racing with Tom for a couple of years now, and we race together really well," Terpstra said. "He's got his strengths, and I have my strengths. We make a perfect team. With all the other riders we are a good block, and we know what our strong points are. If we make good tactics together, then we have a chance for nice results."

Terpstra will want to hit his peak at the Tour de France and is just in California to recover and help teammates and begin to build form for the Tour, but Terpstra says about his time in California "If I see an opportunity, I will grab it."