The best speed skaters in the world are set to compete for more World Cup points inside the Thialf Stadium over three days until Sunday (December 11).

Dutch skater Ntab will be looking to close the gap on Russia's Pavel Kulizhnikov in the men's 500 metres competition.

Ntab currently trails by 153 points and will be aiming to build on his first ISU World Cup win last week in Astana in Kazakhstan. 

Ntab surprised himself and the sport's sprint elite with his career first gold in the men's 500m final at the Alau Ice Palace, which is ranked as the best speed skating venue in the world. 

With a time of 34.52sec, the 22-year-old not only crushed his personal best of 34.96, he also beat Kulizhnikov’s 2015 track record of 34.56.

Leenstra will be hoping to cement her current lead in the women's 1,500m division.

She is currently sitting on a total of 230 points but is being closely followed by Heather Bergsma of the United States and Japan's Miho Takagi who have accumulated 200 points so far.

In last week's leg in Astana, Leenstra lost out to her compatriot Jorien ter Mors and could only claim bronze.

Japan dominated both the men's and women's team pursuit races in their last outing in Kazakhstan.

The women's team currently sit third in the overall standings, 100 points behind leaders The Netherlands while Japan sit atop the men's standings alongside South Korea on 210 points.

Both the men's and women's 500 metres A and B races get the action underway tomorrow, along with the men's and women's team pursuit races.

Men's and women's 1,500m action then takes centre stage on Saturday (December 10) with the team sprint and mass start races then following.

The meeting concludes on Sunday (December 11) with the men's and women's 1,000m, 5,000m and 10,000m. 

Elsewhere, an ISU Short Track World Cup will also begin in Chinese city Shanghai.

The third leg of the season begins with qualification races tomorrow.