Terpstra/Keisse win Rotterdam Six-Days

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Iljo Keisse and Niki Terpstra have won the Rotterdam Six-Days. The Omega Pharma-Quick Step team waited until the last 20 laps of the final Madison of the night to attack the field and take a winning lap. It's Keisse's fourth title in the Rotterdam Ahoy Arena and Terpstra's second, he won his first Rotterdam Six in 2013 with Keisse.

“We really wanted to defend the title,” Terpstra said afterwards. “This is my second win in Rotterdam and it’s Iljo's fourth. I am really happy we could do it.” For Keisse, the support of the crowd was vital. “The support of the crowds meant a lot to us. It means you can always do a little bit more.”

The final, decisive Madison was 250 laps with four sprints of 10, 6, 4 and 2 points in the last 40 laps. With Kenny de Ketele/Jasper de Buyst on 337 points, Michael Mørkøv/Alex Rasmussen on 332 and Terpstra/Keisse on 325 points, the available points could prove decisive for the overall. For Jens Mouris and Wim Stroetinga, who were way down on points, lapping the field was the only option. They tried two times but were caught on both occasions. 

It was the recurring theme for the final Madison race. One of the favorite teams attacked and the other three teams joined forces in a team pursuit. This happened up to ten times with Keisse/Terpstra being the most active team until the last 40 laps when the sprints commenced.

The Danes Rasmussen/Mørkøv had been making up for lost ground all week and started the sprints series with determination. Mørkøv won the first sprint, De Ketele and De Buyst the second and third sprint. The Danes closed to within one point of the Belgian team in the overall ranking but there was a third team about to decide their fate.

Keisse and Terpstra didn’t contest the sprints for first and second place but settled for third. They tried to save energy for the last, all-or-nothing attack. The Belgian-Dutch pair launched this attack at 19 laps from the finish and despite the furious pace in the peloton by De Buyst/De Ketele they only needed ten laps to do the job. Keisse celebrated with a wheelie when his teammate made the connection with the peloton.

De Ketele and De Buyst finished in second position with 18 points more than Terpstra/Keisse but the Belgians were one lap down. The third place was for Mørkøv/Rasmussen who gathered five points more than the winners but were also one lap down.

Crowd favourite Franco Marvulli said goodbye to the Ahoy Arena. The Swiss rider, who won 33 Six-Days during his cycling career, will retire after this year. Marvulli celebrated with three victory laps on his final night in Rotterdam. He won the opening Madison race and the time trial with his mate Tristan Marguet. The final goodbye was a touching lap of honour where Marvulli enjoyed the crowds' cheers. “I won’t miss the racing too much but I’ll miss the friends I made along the way,” he commented.

The Six-Days sprint tournament was won by Jeffrey Hoogland. The 20-year old former BMX-crosser beat former keirin and 1-kilometre world champion Teun Mulder by one point. French sprinter Mickael Bourgain finished in their position.