World Champions Rasmussen and Mørkøv in the lead

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World Madison champions Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen got off to a flying start on the first day of the six-day race in Rotterdam, taking a lap in the night's final Madison to push ahead to the lead in front of the Swiss pair Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli.

The night's first Madison saw all the top teams keeping a keen eye on each other, with none able to escape the field to take a lap. Former sprinter Theo Bos helped his team with Peter Schep earn the top place on points thanks to his powerful jump.

However, Bos and Schep were one of eight teams who lagged one lap behind the Danish world champions in the final race, leaving five teams close on points in the places behind the leaders.

"It's nice to be able to start the year this way," said Mørkøv." We were a bit nervous before the race, since December we have been doing many kilometres on the road and almost no competition, which means that we lack pace and speed but we have the endurance and that is what we need to win over here.

"We have no intentions to defend our lead but we see the lead as an investment for the coming days."

Along with their lap gained, the Danes have a six point lead over Risi and Marvulli, with Danny Stam and Iljo Keisse just one point further behind, and Schep/Bos one more in arrears.