Iljo Keisse

Iljo Keisse (born 21 December 1982) is a Belgian former racing cyclist, who competed as a professional from 2005 to 2022. Keisse races on the track and on the road, specializing himself until recently in riding six-day races. He notably has won the Six Days of Ghent seven times and reached the podium a total of 12 times.

Biography Keisse was born in Ghent. Together with his teammate Matthew Gilmore, he won three Six-day races in 2005–2006: Grenoble, Ghent and Hasselt. After his victory in the 2008 Six Days of Ghent, both his A and B samples tested positive for cathine and a diuretic which has been used to mask the presence of doping agents. He was fired by his team on 11 January 2009. He joined the John Saey-Deschacht-Hyundai team in May 2009.

On 2 November 2009, Keisse was cleared of any wrongdoing, with investigators finding that the positives were not the result of intentional doping and likely resulted from a contaminated dietary supplement. On 7 July 2010, the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency and reinstated Keisse's ban. He is credited for the 11 months he already sat out, meaning he was eligible to return to competition in August 2011. In November, the CAS' decision was overturned by the Belgian Court of Appeals, allowing Keisse to ride the 2010 Six Days of Ghent. Keisse remained banned in Belgium until 27 January 2012, but re-signed with for the 2012 season.

On 28 April 2012, Keisse won Stage 7 of the Tour of Turkey in dramatic fashion. After leaving the rest of a seven-man breakaway, Keisse crashed on the final corner. He remounted his bike, realized his chain was off, restrung it, and held off the chasing peloton by three bike lengths in a sprint for the line. The first chasers were given the same time as his. This was the first professional win of his career and his last for over two years. His next victory was in the Châteauroux Classic in August 2014. Another win came in 2015, at the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports; he won this race from a group of three riders who had escaped earlier. In the Giro d'Italia, Keisse won the last stage in Milan, upsetting the sprinters' plans. He got clear with 's Luke Durbridge and outsprinted him for the victory.

Keisse announced during the 2022 season that he would retire and that his final race would be the Gent Six. Racing alongside Jasper De Buyst, he finished during his 18th and final appearance 3rd.

Major results Road

2004 1st Stage 6 Tour du Loir-et-Cher 5th Overall Le Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux 2005 9th Bruxelles–Ingooigem 2006 4th Flèche Hesbignonne 6th Overall Tour of Britain 9th Overall Tour de Wallonie 2007 1st Textielprijs Vichte 3rd Kuurne–Brussels–Kuurne 7th Halle–Ingooigem 8th Omloop van het Waasland 2008 1st Textielprijs Vichte 4th GP Briek Schotte 2011 10th Dutch Food Valley Classic 2012 1st Stage 7 Tour of Turkey 2013 1st Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde 3rd Münsterland Giro 2014 1st Châteauroux Classic 2nd GP Briek Schotte 2015 1st Ronde van Zeeland Seaports 1st Profronde Deurne 1st Stage 21 Giro d'Italia 1st Stage 1 (TTT) Czech Cycling Tour

2017 1st Omloop Mandel-Leie-Schelde 1st Textielprijs Vichte 3rd Le Samyn 3rd Halle–Ingooigem 10th Dwars door West-Vlaanderen 2020 2nd Road race, National Championships

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

+ Legend — Did not compete DNF Did not finish IP In progress

Track

2004 2nd Six Days of Ghent (with Andreas Beikirch) 2nd Six Days of Fiorenzuola (with Franco Marvulli) 3rd Six Days of Grenoble (with Wouter Van Mechelen) 2005 1st Madison, UEC European Championships (with Matthew Gilmore) 1st Six Days of Fiorenzuola (with Matthew Gilmore) 1st Six Days of Grenoble (with Matthew Gilmore) 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Matthew Gilmore)

3rd Six Days of Amsterdam (with Matthew Gilmore) 3rd Six Days of Bremen (with Marco Villa) 2006 1st Derny, UEC European Championships 1st Points race, National Championships 1st Six Days of Hasselt (with Matthew Gilmore) 2nd Six Days of Stuttgart (with Robert Bartko & Leif Lampater) 2nd Six Days of Zürich (with Robert Bartko) 2nd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Matthew Gilmore) 2nd Six Days of Munich (with Franco Marvulli) 2007 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Robert Bartko) 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Robert Bartko) 1st Six Days of Amsterdam (with Robert Bartko)

2nd Six Days of Maastricht (with Marco Villa) 2nd Six Days of Zürich (with Robert Bartko) 2nd Six Days of Munich (with Franco Marvulli) 2nd Six Days of Hasselt (with Marco Villa) 3rd Six Days of Bremen (with Robert Bartko) 2008 1st Madison, UEC European Championships (with Kenny De Ketele) National Championships 1st Points race 1st Madison (with Kenny De Ketele) 1st Six Days of Stuttgart (with Robert Bartko & Leif Lampater) 1st Six Days of Bremen (with Robert Bartko) 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Robert Bartko) 1st Six Days of Munich (with Robert Bartko) 2nd Six Days of Zürich (with Robert Bartko) 2nd Six Days of Hasselt (with Kenny De Ketele) 2nd Six Days of Fiorenzuola (with Franco Marvulli) 3rd Six Days of Amsterdam (with Robert Bartko) 3rd Six Days of Copenhagen (with Danny Stam) 3rd Six Days of Rotterdam (with Robert Bartko) 2009 National Championships 1st Points race 1st Madison (with Kenny De Ketele) 2nd Six Days of Ghent (with Roger Kluge) 3rd Six Days of Grenoble (with Gianni Meersman) 2010 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Peter Schep) 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Danny Stam) 2nd Six Days of Bremen (with Robert Bartko) 2nd Six Days of Copenhagen (with Robert Bartko) 2011 1st Madison, UEC European Championships (with Kenny De Ketele) National Championships 1st Derny 1st Madison (with Gert-Jan Van Immerseel) 1st Scratch 1st Six Days of Amsterdam (with Niki Terpstra) 1st Six Days of Grenoble (with Morgan Kneisky) 1st Six Days of Zürich (with Franco Marvulli) 2012 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Glenn O'Shea) 1st Six Days of Grenoble (with Kenny De Ketele) 1st Six Days of Copenhagen (with Marc Hester) 2nd Six Days of Amsterdam (with Niki Terpstra) 3rd Six Days of Bremen (with Leif Lampater) 3rd Six Days of Berlin (with Kenny De Ketele) 2013 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Niki Terpstra) 1st Six Days of Zürich (with Silvan Dillier) 2nd Six Days of Ghent (with Wim Stroetinga) 3rd Six Days of Grenoble (with Jasper De Buyst) 2014 National Championships 1st Madison (with Jasper De Buyst) 1st Scratch 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Niki Terpstra) 1st Six Days of Zürich (with Mark Cavendish) 2nd Six Days of Ghent (with Mark Cavendish) 2015 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Michael Mørkøv) 1st Six Days of Rotterdam (with Niki Terpstra) 1st Revolution Round 2 (with Andy Tennant) 1st Revolution Round 3 (with Wim Stroetinga) 1st Points race 1st Team elimination 3rd Six Days of London (with Gijs Van Hoecke) 2016 2nd Overall Revolution Champions League 3rd Six Days of Ghent (with Elia Viviani) 2017 1st Six Days of Bremen (with Marcel Kalz) 2018 1st Six Days of Ghent (with Elia Viviani) 2019 1st Six Days of Bremen (with Jasper De Buyst) 2022 3rd Six Days of Ghent (with Jasper De Buyst)

Six Days results timeline