In 2025, 36 Cycling is the official supplier of the cycling clothing at the Six Days of Rotterdam for the eleventh time. Since the first time in 2014, countless great champions – world champions, but also Olympic champions – have ridden their laps on the track at Rotterdam Ahoy in our clothing.
36 Cycling became the official clothing supplier of the six-day race in 2014. The day after New Year’s Day, the new jerseys hit the track: a still very young Yoeri Havik with current national coach Nick Stöpler in the blue-green of the sponsor, the Americans Guy East and Dan Holloway in the Stars and Stripes, Frenchman Vivien Brisse as madison world champion in the rainbow jersey, Iljo Keisse and Niki Terpstra in the white jerseys, in which they achieved wonderful successes in the city on the Maas…
And then the racing could begin. When the exhaust fumes of the dernys had settled again after six days, after countless hand-slings, thrilling sprints and lightning-fast laps, Keisse and Terpstra stood on the top step of the podium. It was the beginning of a lasting, long-term partnership between 36 Cycling and the Six Days of Rotterdam, the largest indoor cycling event in the Netherlands.
In the years that followed, 36 Cycling continued to supply the cycling clothing at the six-day race. These included the rainbow jerseys of various world champions, such as Yoeri Havik and Jan-Willem van Schip in 2023. But also, for example, the clothing of sprint stars such as Harrie Lavreysen, Jeffrey Hoogland and Matthijs Büchli, as well as the outfits of the riders in the Talents Cup and the women’s competition.
Recent winners
- 2024: Tobias Aagaard Hansen – Michael Morkov
- 2023: Yoeri Havik – Jan-Willem van Schip
- 2022: Niki Terpstra – Yoeri Havik
- 2021: Not held due to COVID-19
- 2020: Yoeri Havik – Wim Stroetinga
- 2019: Niki Terpstra – Thomas Boudat
- 2018: Kenny De Ketele – Moreno De Pauw
History of the six-day race
Six-day track racing is as old as the hills: even before the end of the nineteenth century, this branch of the sport was already hugely popular in the US. At the beginning of the twentieth century the sport crossed over to Europe, where six-day races sprang up as well, and eventually the sport also gained a foothold in Rotterdam. The first Rotterdam six-day races were held in 1936 and 1937 in the Blijdorp polder.
After that it took until 1968 before the event could take place again: first for a few years in the Energiehal, later at Rotterdam Ahoy. There, pure specialists such as Peter Post, Patrick Sercu and René Pijnen took on famous names such as Jan Raas, Gerrie Knetemann and Eddy Merckx. But at the end of the eighties the six-day race disappeared from Rotterdam, the permanent track at Rotterdam Ahoy was demolished and it seemed that the history books could be closed.
However, the flame never went out completely and was rekindled at the beginning of the twenty-first century. In 2005 the six-day race returned to the calendar, on a removable track at Rotterdam Ahoy. Since then, the 200-metre track has been fitted into the Sportpaleis every year – only during COVID-19 did the velodrome stay in storage. And a new chapter is being added to this history during the 41st Six Days of Rotterdam, held at Rotterdam Ahoy from 10 to 15 December 2024.
The Six Days of Rotterdam explained
The Six Days of Rotterdam is a six-day cycling race. Unlike in the past, when pairs were on the track for six full days, today the race consists of five evening programmes and one day programme (on Sunday). The pairs ride various events, such as a madison, an elimination race and a time trial, in which they can gain laps on the competition and earn points for the general classification.
The pair with the biggest lap advantage at the end of the six-day race, or with the most points if the number of laps is equal, wins the classification!
