Yoeri Havik and Nick Stöpler lead the Rotterdam Six again after they had to give up that spot to Wim Stroetinga and Peter Schep after day three. “This was a great day,” Stöpler reacted yesterday. “I feel really good and it shows because I beat Iljo Keisse in a sprint.” The overall classification is very close with six pairs in the same lap and the top four within ten points of each other. Defending champion Wim Stroetinga cautions the competition: “We have plans for the last two days so Stöpler/Havik are hereby warned.”
To 22-year old Nick Stöpler, the main rivals are the defending champions Schep/Stroetinga and the Omega Pharma-Quick Step duo Iljo Keisse and Niki Terpstra. “But we lead in both points and laps at the moment,” he smiled. “We did show some of our cards already though and they didn’t. The final two days promise to very exciting for us and for the public in the Ahoy Arena. We lost the lead after day three so it feels really good to be back on top.”
On the Sunday matinée the six pairs who are racing for the crown kept each other level pegging. Where Havik/Stöpler, De Ketele/Van Hoecke and Bartko/Dillier took a lap in the first madison race, the other three, Keisse/Terpstra, Ligthart/Mørkøv and Schep/Stroetinga evened out that score by taking the advantage back in the final madison race. It was Stöpler who decided the overall ranking after four days by beating Iljo Keisse and Michael Mørkøv in the final scratch of the night and take maximum points.
In the sprint tournament three-times world champion Grégory Baugé managed to win his first individual event while Sir Chris Hoy leads the overall. In a sprint with three, the semi-final between Teun Mulder and sir Chris Hoy couldn’t be decided in a photo-finish, it was the 27-year old Frenchman who won. “My form is not great though,” he said. “After the deception at the Olympic Games (Baugé lost to Kenny in the final) I struggle to motivate myself for training sessions. I took some time off to enjoy life with my family and yes, I also partied a lot.”
Baugé will therefore not defend his sprint world title at Minsk next month. “I still have got some good years in me for Rio de Janeiro 2016 but the British are very strong. It’s hard in France at the moment with budget cuts and all so unfortunately I have no successor yet,” he concluded.
Rotterdam Six:
1, Yoeri Havik (NED) / Nick Stöpler (NED) 180points
2, Michael Mørkøv (DEN) / Pim Ligthart (NED) 175
3, Iljo Keisse (BEL) / Niki Terpstra (NED) 171
4, Wim Stroetinga (NED) / Peter Schep (NED) 170
5, Gijs Van Hoecke (BEL) / Kenny De Ketele (BEL) 138
6, Robert Bartko (GER) / Silvan Dillier (CH) 119
7, Raymond Kreder (NED) / Michel Kreder (NED)at 3 laps, 65
8, Marc Hester (DEN) / Barry Markus (NED)at 6 laps, 59
9, Leif Lampater (GER) / Dylan van Baarle (NED)at 8 laps, 58
10, Melvin Boskamp (NED) / Wesley Kreder (NED)at 9 laps, 69
11, Michael Vingerling (NED) / Geert-Jan Jonkman (NEDat 11 laps, 47
12, Nolan Hoffmann (RSA) / Leon van Bon (NED)at 12 laps, 105
13, Tim Veldt (NED) / Bobbie Traksel (NED)at 13 laps, 102