After three days of racing in the Amsterdam Velodrome, the overall classification is starting to shape up. Four pairs are within the same lap with Wim Stroetinga and Peter Schep as the new leaders. The Dutch pair has only nine points more than the leading duo of the first two days: Michael Mørkøv and Pim Ligthart. Last year’s winners Iljo Keisse and Niki Terpstra and the young Dutch talents Yoeri Havik and Nick Stöpler are still contenders for the title.
Stöpler and Havik started the night of well with a victory in the first madison race. The young Dutchmen won the Brabant Six in 2011 and Stöpler was riding very well with Alex Rasmussen in Rotterdam this January untill a horrific accident ended their success. Stöpler crashed and was rushed to hospital where there were doubts if he would ever walk again because of a broken patella and torn leg muscles.
“I am actually still recovering,” Stöpler said before the start on Monday. “I can’t really put full pressure on the knee yet so it’s a bit of a gamble. This knee is still bigger than the other but I don’t have the biggest gears on my bike so we’ll see how it goes.” It went well for Stöpler and Havik, who is Six-Day champion Danny Stam’s cousin. The hour-long madison race was won by the two 21-year olds which earned them a lap and a fourth place in the overall.
Stroetinga and Schep are the new leaders. Even though Peter Schep started the Six with a stomach bug, the winners of the prestigious Rotterdam Six were riding consistently again. They came in second in the time trial, which was won for the third night in a row by omnium specialist Tim Veldt and his partner Jos Pronk.
Stroetinga/Schep won the elimination madison race but Peter Schep lost valuable points in the solo elimination race being the second rider leaving the track. Wim Stroetinga raked in the most points by finishing second in the derny race and second in the long madison race. He was just outsprinted by Yoeri Havik. Stroetinga/Schep rounded off a very successful evening by winning the team time trial.
After three days they have 152 points. Pim Ligthart and Michael Mørkøv are in the same lap and only nine points behind. The riders in third and fourth place, Keisse/Terpstra and Havik/Stöpler are also in the same lap with madison World champions De Ketele/Van Hoecke at one lap but with a substantial amount of points, trailing close behind.