Danes still on top after crash halts day two

Danes Michael Mørkøv and Alex Rasmussen remain the leaders of the Rotterdam Six Day after a large crash led to a premature end to the final Madison of the night.

The Madison World Champions lost one lap on the first Madison of the night, after Belgian Iljo Keisse and Dutch partner Danny Stam pulled away with the Swiss pair Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli. Following that race, the three teams were equal on laps, with the Danes leading the Swiss by 12 points.

As the night wore on, the Danes slowly inched toward the bonus lap gained for reaching 100 points, and after a third in the Derny race by Rasmussen and a fifth place in the scratch race, the Saxo Bank pair gained that lap, making them the undisputed leaders.

"Although we lost a lap tonight, we're still leading after the second day. Competitors will be fewer and we now know more about who we should be keeping our eyes on," said Mørkøv.

"Again tonight, the pace was unbelievable and many pairs were dropped and the peloton was repeatedly torn apart on the 200 metre-long track."

The evening was not without drama, as local favorite Peter Schep, partner of sprinter Theo Bos, suffered a crash in the Derny race and would later pull out.

Bos was paired with German Robert Bartko, whose partner Jeff Vermeulen was injured, to finish off the night. However, a massive fall in the final Madison involving Keisse, Stam, Marc Hester and Ismael Kip led organiser Patrick Sercu to call a halt to the racing for the night so that the injured could be attended to.

"All four riders were lying on the floor for quite some time and the race was ended. Fortunately, all four were able to walk away from the track without major damage," said Mørkøv.