Dec 30, 2023 at 2:16 PM Update: 5 minutes ago
Jorrit Bergsma still qualified for the World Championship distances on Saturday. The 37-year-old Frisian finished second in the 10,000 meters at the National Championships in Heerenveen. Patrick Roest was, as expected, untouchable and crowned Dutch champion.
The 28-year-old Roest drove a time of 12.47.21 in his ride against Bergsma, leaving the competition well behind him. The skater from Team Reggeborgh extended his Dutch title.
More striking was the second place for Bergsma. The seven-time Dutch champion and single world champion in the 10,000 meters suffered from flu in the run-up to the National Championship distances. Last week he was in bed from Monday to Wednesday with a severe fever.
Partly because of this, Bergsma rode a disappointing 5,000 meters – he finished seventh – and missed out on a World Cup ticket. As a result, the Jumbo-Visma rider was in danger of a disappointing season without European or World Championship distances.
Bergsma prevented that scenario in the 10,000 meters. He visibly had a hard time, but took silver with a time of 12.54.87. “I knew it was going to be very difficult,” Bergsma said after his race.
“I have mainly had to recover from the 5 kilometers in the last two days and only cycled for half an hour yesterday. I felt a little better, but you also know that you suffer from fever for weeks. Fortunately, I was able to stay with Patrick a bit. stay in the area.”
‘The season would otherwise have fizzled out’
Bergsma is proud that he has qualified for the World Cup after all. “This (second place, ed.) was the maximum achievable. If it had not worked out today, the season would have fizzled out. I have never been so happy with silver,” Bergsma joked.
Marwin Talsma grabbed the bronze with 12.55.34, but this did not earn the former Dutch champion (in 2021) a World Cup ticket. Only the best two skaters qualified for the World Championship distances in Calgary (15 to 18 February).
There were no European Championship tickets to be won for the 10,000 meters, because that distance is not held at the European Championships (5 to 7 January in Heerenveen).
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Image: Pro Shots
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2023-12-30 14:21:02
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