Anne Tauber and Jordy Harink emerged as the winners of the Alternative Elfstedentocht held at the Weissensee, marking a competitive day of ice skating.
NOS Schaatsen, a Dutch news outlet, provided detailed coverage of the event.
On Tuesday, Anne Tauber secured the victory in the women’s category of the Alternative Elfstedentocht, while Jordy Harink claimed first place in the men’s race. The women’s competition saw Janet Beers, Gioya Lancee, and Iris Mulder break away early, maintaining a lead of over 14 minutes for much of the race. However, this advantage diminished as Susanne Prins closed the gap after a sustained pursuit in the penultimate lap.
Unfortunately for Lancee, a fall caused her to drop out of the lead group, prompting her team, Puur ICT-BTZ, to initiate a peloton chase. Simultaneously, Prins managed to create some distance at the front from the exhausted Beers and Mulder. Nonetheless, Tauber and Veerle van Koppen rejoined the front group from the peloton and eventually overtook Prins. Tauber, who has a background as a three-time Dutch mountain bike champion and competed in the Tokyo Olympics, made several attempts to distance Van Koppen but was initially unsuccessful. The race concluded with a sprint finish where Tauber narrowly defeated Van Koppen. This victory marks Tauber’s second win at this event, her first being in 2018.
In the men’s race, Jordy Harink and six others, including Gelling, Jeroen Janissen, Ronald Haasjes, Kevin van der Horst, Crispijn Ariëns, and Joram Verkerk, broke away from the pack. They entered the final lap with a substantial lead. Several attacks were launched within the group, especially from Verkerk and Janissen, but Van der Horst repeatedly neutralized these efforts, supporting his teammate Gelling at Royal A-ware. The sprint finish between Harink, the 2022 Dutch natural ice champion, and Gelling was exceptionally close, requiring the jury several minutes to determine the winner, ultimately awarding the victory to Harink.
