Iljo Keisse

Iljo Keisse

Keisse at the 2011 Six Days of Grenoble
Personal information
Full name	Iljo Keisse
Nickname	Jolly Jumper
Born	(1982-12-21) 21 December 1982 Ghent, Belgium
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	72 kg (159 lb)
Team information
Current team	Etixx–Quick-Step
Discipline	Track and road
Role	Rider
Rider type	Madison (track) Classics rider (road)
Amateur team(s)
2004	Jong Vlaanderen 2016
Professional team(s)
2005–2008	Chocolade Jacques–T Interim
2009	John Saey-Deschacht-Huyandai
2010–	Quick-Step[1]
Major wins
Grand Tours Giro d'Italia 1 individual stage (2015)
Medal record Representing  Belgium Track cycling World Championships 2007 Palma de Mallorca Points Race 2005 Los Angeles Madison European Championships 2011 Apeldoorn Madison
Infobox last updated on 31 May 2015

Iljo Keisse (born 21 December 1982) is a Belgian racing cyclist, who competes for the Etixx–Quick-Step team.^[2] 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 six times.^[3]

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 Topsport Vlaanderen–Mercator on 11 January 2009.^[4] He joined the John Saey-Deschacht-Hyundai team in May 2009.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] In November, the CAS' decision was overturned by the Belgian Court of Appeals, allowing Keisse to ride the 2010 Six Days of Ghent.^[8] Keisse remained banned in Belgium until 27 January 2012, but re-signed with Omega Pharma–Quick-Step for the 2012 season.^[9]

On 28 April 2012, Keisse won Stage 7 of the Tour of Turkey in dramatic fashion: after crashing on the final turn he had to put his chain back on before sprinting for the line just ahead of the chasing peloton. The first chasers were given the same time as his.^[10] 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.^[11] Another win came in 2015, at the Ronde van Zeeland Seaports; he won this race from a group of three Etixx–Quick-Step riders who had escaped earlier.^[12] In the Giro d'Italia, Keisse won the last stage in Milan, upsetting the sprinters' plans. He got clear with Orica–GreenEDGE's Luke Durbridge and outsprinted him for the victory.^[13]

Career achievements

Road

Track

Six Days results timeline

DNF = Did not finish; - = Did not compete; N/A = No race or race canceled

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Grand Tour	2013	2014	2015	2016
Giro	159	139	145	—
Tour	—	—	—	139
Vuelta	—	—	148	—

WD = Withdrew; IP = In Progress

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iljo Keisse.

• Official website
• Iljo Keisse profile at Cycling Archives
• Official website from Iljo Keisse and Matthew Gilmore