Thursday, March 28, 2024

Gent Six Day 2009 – Nights Five and Six

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HomeDiariesGent Six Day 2009 - Nights Five and Six

Gent Six Day. The A2 Dover to London road, 23:23 on Sunday.

There was no partying at Iljo’s dad’s bar, De Karper – which is just along the road from the Gent track – for us tonight; we had a ferry to catch.

Gent Six Day
Another sell-out on Day Six.

I didn’t have time to put together a Day Five piece, today. We were up at 09:00 for the 13:00 start; usually I spend the early afternoon writing, but today I couldn’t, although I did manage to get the Day Five pictures away as the under 23 lads prepared for action.

(The big Aussies – Alex Carver & Scott Long – won it by three laps, with Luke Rowe and Jon Mould third for GB.)

Gent Six Day
Luke Rowe, second in the U23 race.

To tell the truth, I can’t remember much about Saturday night, except Eddy Wally.

Gent Six Day
Do you remember seeing Eddy on Eurotrash years ago?

Eddy is part of what Belgium is all about, you never now what to expect; he’s 78 years old, eccentric as hell but adored by the fans.

And I do remember asking Dirk what a particular song was; ‘that’s the Dutch guy, Father Abrahams.’ I asked him is he thought there had been anything going on between Father Abraham and the Smurffs; ‘I think maybe it’s possible!

Gent Six Day
The Danes are on the top of their game at the moment.

Tonight was special; one of the first Sixes I worked at was Grenoble, five or six years ago. Michael and Alex were young Danish laddies riding their first Six; but Michael crashed on the first night and broke his collar bone, whilst Alex was paired with Marco Villa.

I remember Michael eating all of our biscuit stocks and telling me that he wanted to be a Six Day rider – the ‘laddies’ are men, now. They’re champions of the world and tonight they joined the greats as winners of one of the toughest Six Day races there is.

Gent Six Day
The winners, by ace mechanic Dirk van Hove of the Porsche-Drapac team.

I always hit it off with Michael, but used to feel there was a little barrier between Alex and me.

Gent Six Day
Alex Rasmussen.

But that came down at the Copenhagen Six – which they won – back in February and I enjoy my relationship with Alex, now.

It’s not certain that they’ll be defending their world title at the worlds in Copenhagen next spring; the track isn’t that big a deal to Pro Tour teams.

I hope they do ride, if they do, I could well be tempted to get over to the Ballerup velodrome – where the Worlds will be, and where the Copenhagen Six is held – to watch ‘my’ boys.

Gent Six Day
Here at VR, we reckon Iljo’s bikes have the nicest geometry and setup.
Gent Six Day
…as opposed to the likes of Bruno’s bike, with its multi-stacked head.

People say; ‘ah ! those Six Days are all fixed, aren’t they?’

Of course! It’s a doddle to win one, provided you can take a lap when the string is riding at 55 kph – easy.

If you were Iljo Keisse, would you give your home race away? – me neither!

Gent Six Day
Iljo tried his best to win again here.

Iljo was impressive, and has done his reputation no harm with the way he rode here; aggressive, flamboyant and gracious in defeat.

Kluge is a big strong boy, out of the Bartko mould, they both ride Cervelos and have impressively smooth but robotic riding styles.

Gent Six Day
Kluge, big and strong.

But they don’t play to the crowd, like Iljo – or Franco. Franco oozes star quality, tall, tanned, handsome, multi lingual, popular with the ladies but cool with the guys too.

Gent Six Day
Dirk van Hove catches Franco messing around with the lap bell.
Gent Six Day
Franco with his flowers, before handing them out to all the ladies.

He won the flying lap tonight, then rode round pointing at his chest; ‘that was me just did that 8.71!’ following the win up by distributing his bouquet, flower by flower to the ladies in the crowd.

Gent Six Day
Everyone says ‘bye’ to Bruno.

Bruno Risi – he’s still the man; a joy to watch, fast, strong and with some sort of bat-like instinct to detect the exact second to go for the lap gain. We’ll miss him.

Gent Six Day
Pete Jacques with Dave and John (nice shirt Mr. Anderson).

Whilst Six Day organisers across Europe wring their hands, the Kuipke pulses like a living thing.

I was fascinated by it; on Thursday night, the crowd in the track centre was huge, threatening to brush aside the railings and cabins and drink it’s pils on the slow running boards.

Gent Six Day
We’re not sure if these guys are in fact Scottish!

The amount of beer drunk is mind boggling, they ship the stuff in by the pallet.

There’s little grief, although a lot of them get carried away – they want jerseys, sun glasses, shorts – anything!

You have to be firm – and keep back from the barriers or you’ll spend the whole night taking programmes to get autographed.

It’s hard when folks come for a chat, you have to keep half an eye on the cabins – you never know what you might have to do and you can’t stray too far or for too long.

Gent Six Day
Runners and Mechanics have to be on hand all the time – here, for pushing off at the start of the Derny.

People may think that when you stand track side, you’re doing nothing anyway and could be away for a blether. They forget that you might have help change a wheel; change a rider’s shorts or jersey, if they crash; hand up a drink, retrieve or fill a bottle.

But there’s another aspect, just as important; Franco, in particular, likes his team to be there, visible, giving moral support – not ‘missing in action.’

Gent Six Day
These wheels kept Dirk very busy.

And now it’s Monday morning, we parked up, for a sleep at Watford Gap for a few hours, early this morning, and now we’re battling the traffic north on the M6 – reality beckons.

Michael and Alex are off to a Saxo Bank training camp, today.

Franco will be sleeping – him, Bruno, Alexander Aeschbach and Tristan Marguet drove home to Switzerland through the night.

Gent Six Day
Past Master Etienne De Wilde drops by to pass on his support.

When my ‘day job’ is doing my head in this week, I’ll just let my mind slip back to Sunday night at the Kuipke and Alex coming over the top of Iljo down that home straight… I won’t be able to stop from smiling.

Gent Six Day
Job done. The lads celebrate with Kris.

Night Five Results

Points race
1 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 18 pts
2 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 10
3 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 8
4 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 7
5 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 6
6 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 4
7 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 3
8 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 2
9 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 1
10 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre
11 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS

Team elimination
1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 20 pts
2 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 12
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 10
4 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 8
5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 6
6 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 4
7 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS
8 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK
9 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas
10 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen
11 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

One lap time trial
1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 10 pts
2 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 6
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 5
4 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 4
5 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 3
6 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 2
7 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
8 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen
9 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
10 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS
11 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur

Madison 1
1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 20 pts
2 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 12
One lap down
3 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 10
4 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 8
5 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 6
Two laps down
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 4
7 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas
8 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
Three laps down
9 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS
10 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK
Four laps down
11 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

Derny 1
1 Steven Deneef (Bel) JDK 5 pts
2 Glenn O’Shea (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 4
3 Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 3
4 Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Geka Kaas 2
5 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) AVS 1
6 Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen

Elimination
1 Marc Hester (Den) AVS 10 pts
2 Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 6
3 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 5
4 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Caruur 4
5 Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 3
6 Danny Stam (Ned) Ploeg AA Drink 2
7 Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
8 Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less
9 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Mercator Verzekeringen
10 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey
11 Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre

Derny 2
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 5 pts
2 Bruno Risi (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 4
3 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 3
4 Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 2
5 Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 1

500m time trial
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 20 pts
2 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 12
3 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 10
4 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 8
5 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 6
6 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 4
7 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
8 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS
9 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
10 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur
11 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK

Madison 2
1 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 20 pts
One lap down
2 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 12
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 10
4 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 8
5 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 6
Two laps down
6 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 4
7 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur
8 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
Three laps down
9 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK
10 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
Four laps down
11 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS

Derny 3
1 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Mercator Verzekeringen 5 pts
2 Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 4
3 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 3
4 Danny Stam (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 2
5 Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 1
6 Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas

Elimination
1 Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Geka Kaas 10 pts
2 Glenn O’Shea (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 6
3 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) AVS 5
4 Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 4
5 Steven Deneef (Bel) JDK 3
6 Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 2
7 Bruno Risi (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre
8 Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
9 Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen
10 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less
11 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Mega Deschacht — John Saey

Derny 4
1 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 5 pts
2 Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 4
3 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Caruur 3
4 Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 2
5 Marc Hester (Den) AVS 1

Sprint standings
1 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 15 pts
2 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 11
3 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 11
4 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 10
5 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 5
6 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 4
7 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 4
8 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS 3
9 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 2
10 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 1
11 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink

Overall standings
1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 338 pts
2 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 237
One lap down
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 360
4 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 357
Three laps down
5 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 190
Fifteen laps down
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 139
Sixteen laps down
7 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 141
Seventeen laps down
8 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 178
Thirty two laps down
9 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS 103
Forty laps down
10 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 70
Forty five laps down
11 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 110

Bruno, together with his mum, dad and wife, enjoys his last Gent Six.
Bruno, together with his mum, dad and wife, enjoys his last Gent Six.

Night Six Results

Points race
1 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 11 pts
2 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 10
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 8
4 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 8
5 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS 7
6 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 6
7 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 4
8 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 4
9 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 3
10 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 3
11 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 2

Team elimination
1 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 20 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 12
3 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 10
4 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 8
5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 6
6 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 4
7 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
8 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
9 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
10 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS
11 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas

500m time trial
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 20 pts
2 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 12
3 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 10
4 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 8
5 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 6
6 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 4
7 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
8 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS
9 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK
10 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
11 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur

Derny 1
1 Danny Stam (Ned) Ploeg AA Drink 5 pts
2 Steven Deneef (Bel) JDK 4
3 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 3
4 Marc Hester (Den) AVS 2
5 Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Geka Kaas 1

Elimination
1 Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 10 pts
2 Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 6
3 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Caruur 5
4 Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 4
5 Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 3
6 Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 2
7 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) AVS
8 Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre
9 Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
10 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey
11 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less

Derny 2
1 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) Mercator Verzekeringen 5 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 4
3 Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 3
4 Bruno Risi (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 2
5 Glenn O’Shea (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 1
6 Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur

Sprint standings
1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 15 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 9
3 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 8
4 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 7
5 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 7
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 5
7 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 5
8 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 5
9 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS 2
10 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 2
11 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 1

One lap time trial
1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 10 pts
2 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 6
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 5
4 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 4
5 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 3
6 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 2
7 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur
8 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
9 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
10 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
11 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS

Scratch race
1 Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 10 pts
2 Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 6
3 Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 5
4 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) AVS 4
5 Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 3
6 Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 2
7 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Caruur
8 Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
9 Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink
10 Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey
11 Alex Rasmussen (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less

Madison
1 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 6 pts
One lap down
2 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 40
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 32
4 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 16
5 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 10
Three laps down
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 4
Four laps down
7 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK
8 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank
Five laps down
9 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 2 pts
10 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen
Seven laps down
11 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS

Final Overall results
1 Alex Rasmussen / Michael Morkov (Den) Callant Verzekeringen — Wire-less 450 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Roger Kluge (Ger) Mega Deschacht — John Saey 447
3 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Knokse Bandencentrale — Eurotyre 408
4 Danny Stam (Ned) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Ploeg AA Drink 254
One lap down
5 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Peter Schep (Ned) Mercator Verzekeringen 235
Seventeen laps down
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Andreas Müller (Ger) Caruur 159
Nineteen laps down
7 Glenn O’Shea / Leigh Howard (Aus) VDK Spaarbank 200
Twenty laps down
8 Alexander Aeschbach / Tristan Marguet (Swi) Geka Kaas 183
Thirty eight laps down
9 Geert-Jan Jonkman (Ned) / Marc Hester (Den) AVS 114
Forty four laps down
10 Ingmar Depoortere / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) Provincie Oost-Vlaanderen 86
Forty eight laps down
11 Steven Deneef / Steve Schets (Bel) JDK 133

See you next year.
See you next year.
Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

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I’d forgotten the raw horror of a Frank Zander gig; ‘If I Had a Hammer’ was blasting out at around 11:00 pm and it occurred to me that if you’re a bad musician then Germany and the Berlin Six Day 2012 is the place to be.

Toby Perry – Racing with Hagens Berman Axeon in 2022

Since we spoke to Toby Perry in April things have moved on apace for him and by happy coincidence we caught up with his coach, former British champion on road and track, Dean Downing at the Hawick start of the Tour of Britain stage. ‘Deano’ advised us that it might be a good idea to ring Toby in Spain - he had some good news to share.

Bremen Six Day 2019 – Nights One, Two and Three

It’s always cold at the Bremen Six Day, the Baltic is just up the road so you get cold or cold and wet; today it’s the latter but the cabin has a window so we can at least see the sky – not like the usual breeze block with no windows.

Sandy Gilchrist – The Scottish Star of the 70’s and 80’s Working at the Olympics

Rio is his eighth Olympics; and there are six Commonwealth Games and ‘over 30’ World Championships in there too – and whilst we’re talking chiffres (as the French call figures) how about 60-odd Scottish Championships including 14 Scottish Hill Climb Championships and nine Tours de Trossachs? Yes, it’s that man Sandy Gilchrist, who, along with Robert Millar was Scottish Cycling in the 70’s and into the 80’s. He rode the Peace Race, Tour de L’Avenir, Milk Race and World Championships in a long and varied career which continues to this day as he just keeps on wielding those spanners at the sport’s highest levels.