Intro:

Dutch rider Niki Terpstra looks ahead to the men's road race at the inaugural European Games in Baku Azerbaijan on Friday (19th June).

Script:

SOUNDBITE (English) Niki Terpstra, Netherlands:

"Actually, I think my biggest rival will be my team-mate Tom Boonen, but he's Belgian, and in this race he's not my team-mate, so he's in really good shape, but we also have some good Italian riders going out there, and I didn't see the complete starting field yet, but in the last laps we will see who are the favourites."

SOUNDBITE (English) Niki Terpstra, Netherlands:

"No, the heat is not going to be a problem, I think. It's warm, but not too extreme. It's windy but it's a lap in the city, so it's not going to play the biggest role, like (it would) in the open fields."

SOUNDBITE (English) Niki Terpstra, Netherlands:

"The route is pretty technical, especially in the beginning. We go uphill with cobblestones, with I think six corners. It's narrow, it's going to be lined-up for sure, after that we'll get a long climb with 1.4km, and that's going to be really hard. After that it's all downhill back to the finish, so it can go to a sprint, it can be complete carnage. It can go two ways - it's going to be interesting."