On the first day of the Dutch National Championships for sprint speed skating in the Thialf ice rink in Heerenveen, Stefan Groothuis is in the lead. The skater belonging to the Control team won the 1000 metre race on Monday with an impressive time of 1,08.54. Earlier in the day he came second in the 500 metre race.

In the 1000 metres, Groothuis beat Jan Bos who came second with a time of 1,09.82. Sjoerd de Vries was third with 1,09.90.

This puts Groothuis 0.63 seconds in the lead in the overall competition ahead of teammate Jan Smeekens who won the 500 metres race. Jan Bos is in third place 0.89 seconds behind Groothuis.

Kjeld Nuis was disqualified for crossing the line with his skate twice. Simon Kuipers dropped out of the 1000 metre race because of a thigh injury.

In the women's competition, Ireen Wüst won the 1000 metre race with a time of 1,16.60. This puts the TVM skater ahead of Annette Gerritsen and Margot Boer from Team Liga.

Margot Boer, who won the 500-metre race, is first in the overall competition, 0.13 seconds ahead of her teammate Ms Gerritsen and 0.46 seconds ahead of Ms de Boer.

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