Iljo Keisse

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 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.[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]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Iljo Keisse.

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