Keisse & Bartko won in Gent (Image credit: Luc Claessen)
Iljo Keisse and Robert Bartko took over the lead after the fourth day of the Rotterdam Six Day race. They won the day's Madison to take a one-lap lead over former leaders, World Champions Bruno Risi/Franco Marvulli, as well as Peter Schep/Erik Zabel and Danny Stam/Leif Lampater.
It was a chaotic race, with teams breaking away and others cooperating to pull them back. Alliances formed and dissolved as the lead changed, and various teams took turns stealing laps. Stam/Lampater and Keisse/ Bartko came into the finale as the only two teams on the lead lap.
Danny Stam took the lead with three laps to go, but Keisse and Bartko stayed after him and his partner Lampater. Keisse and Stam went shoulder to shoulder in the last curve of the final round, and Keisse turned on the speed to win by half a wheel length.
The victory pushed Keisse/Bartko over the 200 point mark, earning them a bonus lap and pushing them to a one-lap lead over Risi/Marvulli and the lead on points with 241.
In the women's four-day, former World Champion Marianne Vos and her teammate Adrie Visser took over the lead, winning both of the night's events. The pair now stand eight points ahead of the second placed team, Kirsten Wild and Marllijn Binnendijk.
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