At the first two ISU World Cup Speed Skating events, in Minsk and Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Patrick Roest had crushed the opposition in the 5000m. The third leg in Nur-Sultan featured the only 10,000m of the Men's ISU World Cup Speed Skating series 2019/20.
On his 24th birthday Roest faced compatriot and ISU World Speed Skating Champion Jorrit Bergsma in the penultimate pairing and he started ferociously, gaining almost half a second per lap over his pair-mate in the first part of the race.
After the 6400m split, Roest's lap times went up quickly, however. Bergsma, almost 100 meters behind at the time, saw it happening and tried to seize the opportunity increasing his speed. With two laps to go, the 6.53 second gap had shrunk to less than a second, but Bergsma's efforts came to no avail.
Jorrit Bergsma (NED) at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating (KAZ) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Bergsma said: "When I almost had him, I forced myself too much, when I was already at my limit and I blew myself up faster than I thought."
Roest struggled in the second part of his race. "Those last ten laps were an ordeal. I knew he [Bergsma] was coming, but I did not know whether I would be able to counter. When it was two laps to go, I just went all or nothing."
Patrick Roest (NED) at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating (KAZ) 2019©International Skating Union (ISU)
Roest (NED) had to dig deep, but eventually celebrated his 24th birthday in style by winning a hard-fought battle with Jorrit Bergsma (NED) to clinch the first 10,000m ISU World Cup Speed Skating gold medal of his career.
