The Six Days of Rotterdam kicked off yesterday when defending champions Niki Terpstra and Iljo Keisse took the lead on the opening night. UIV president Henrik Elmgreen takes a look back at the first day of action in the race that has been described as the unofficial World Championships due to its strong line-up.

The first evening in a 6-Days is always something special, and when – like in Rotterdam yesterday evening – there have been a break of a whole month in the season (since Zurich in the end of November), things can be rather nervous, and for some riders also rather problematic.

The overall picture after the opening evening in AHOY is: The best are still the best! After the final Madison (40 Km), four teams are on zero, and even when the skillful German Leif Lampater and his Dutch partner Markus Barry are only one lap down, we dare to say, that the winners will be found between the teams Keisse – Terpstra, Mørkøv – Rasmussen, De Ketele – De Buyst and Mouris – Stroetinga. If not so, you should look for another editor of this page…

Not a surprise, perhaps, but still encouraging seeing, that the Danish team was capable of coming back to the 6-Days scene in such conditions. It is in fact their first 6-Days in this season. In the other end of the peloton you could witness the disaster of Theo Bos and Graeme Brown, where particularly the 34 years old Australian was en great troubles. But also teams like Marvulli – Marguet, Bartko – Kalz, Brisse – Hester and last but not least Havik – Stöpler performed under expectations.

The opening Madison was a chase of just 100 laps and here Marvulli – Marguet were able to take the flowers ahead of Keisse – Terpstra, one lap ahead of the rest. For the Swiss team it was an effort sans lendemain, but for Keisse – Terpstra the result meant, that they could go into the second Madison with confidence. They “just” had to control things, and one might think, that they had been able to do even better, if they had wanted so. Mørkøv – Rasmussen won the 40 Km ahead of De Ketele – De Buyst and Mouris – Stroetinga, while 4th place, one lap down, was sufficient for Keisse – Terpstra to preserve the leading position after the first evening.