Friday, March 29, 2024

Berlin Six Day 2012 – the Story do Far

-

HomeDiariesBerlin Six Day 2012 - the Story do Far

The 101st Berliner Sechstage Rennen (Berlin Six Day) started on Thursday and according to reports the crowds have been down a little on last night.

On the track big gaps have already appeared as the top five teams have started the fight that will conclude in the final hour long Madison on Tuesday night.

In his last German Six Danny Stam is out of the running as his partner Peter Schep fell breaking his collarbone on the opening night.

That’s a shame for Schep of course but also for the race as he and Stam would have expected to be among the leaders.

Berlin Six Day
Tim Mertens.

As expected the Australian World Madison Champions Meyer and Howard are going well as are the Belgians Iljo Keisse and Kenny de Ketele, looking for their first Six-day win together, local favourites Kluge – Lampater and fellow Germans Kalz — Bengsch.

Berlin Six Day
Iljo fires Kenny into action.

The dark horses may well be Franco Marvulli and his talented 21year old Swiss partner Silvan Dillier.

* * *

Goldene Nacht — Saturday 28th January

To confirm first hand, the crowds are indeed down again but they are still out in force and when it matters, and they are still making themselves heard!

After the traditional leg stretching points race the riders went straight into a 30 minute Madison which was the first of two chases tonight.

To the delight of the home crowd the winners were the German champions, Marcel Kalz and Robert Bengsch.

The win took them to the top of the standings a few points ahead of Keisse / de Ketele and a full lap clear of more favoured teams, Lampater / Kluge and Howard / Meyer.

After showing well in the first two or three days in 2009, 2010 and 2011 the Berlin pair have faded towards the end of the Six Day. This year they’ll be looking to stay competitive and go for the victory on Tuesday night.

The Derny racing is not as popular here as it is at my other Six in Ghent, but it remains very much part of any Six Day race. Tonight they kicked off with a popular win for Roger Kluge.

Berlin Six Day
Kluge.

The Team Elimination race, (or Devil as its known in English speaking in cycling circles) saw the young Germans Ralf Matzka and Theo Reinhardt take a morale-boosting win in front of their capital city fans.

The big chase of the night was a 45 minute Madison. The closing laps brought the volume of the crowd to a peak as Kluge — Lampater took a double lap with around 10 minutes to race.

Berlin Six Day
Marvellous Marvulli.

Within the closing laps, Howard – Meyer and Marvulli — Dillier tried desperately to get that lap back. The Aussies conceded with about a lap to go, but Dillier kept trying all the way to the finish and failed to make the junction, missing out by a few metres.

The win took the local matadors Kluge and Lampater back to the top of the leader board as Saturday night entered Sunday morning.

Have a look at Steve’s site, 6dayracing.ca

Related Articles

Le Tour de France 2007 – Day 10: Stage 20, Marcoussis – Paris Champs-Élysées

It was gone 2.00 am when we got to bed, but the alarm blasted at 5.45 am - we had to meet the mechanic from Vélo Sport Vacations at 06.00 am. He was right on time and it was only a couple of minutes after six when we pedalled-off on our borrowed Felts to ride the finishing circuit around the Champs Elysees. It's the first time I've ridden an all carbon bike and it felt very lively, James McCallum rode a Felt last year. The city was buzzing, taxis dropped-off and picked-up those who had decided against sleeping on Saturday night.

Le Tour de France 2012 – Stage 11 : Albertville – La Toussuire – Les Sybelles, 140 km.

We're late! Despite us writing our schedule out for the morning, we're heading to the Albertville depart later than we should. I just smile when people tell me about the high old time we'll have in France. By the time we get from the parcours to the hotel, edit the pictures, insert picture holders in the text and get all that sent off, it's well after 9:00 pm when we grab a pizza and one beer.

Grenoble Six Days 2011 – D minus 1

It's a grey morning in Grenoble; we can't unload until 11:00 am and then we have to drive up to Lyon and collect Jesper and Marc off the plane. In the stadium office they have great old black and white photos of the stadium under construction; it really is a gem of a building, if you like modern architecture.

Giro d’Italia 2011, Stages 2, 3 & 4 Roundup

In this roundup Ed brings us his experiences of the first few days on the Giro, which included the tragic and untimely passing of Leopard Trek rider Wouter Weylandt.

At Random

Berlin Six Day 2013 – The People Make the Place

Steve Penny has been bringing you the race reports, John Young the action images, so I thought we'd look at the people who make the "Berlin 6 Tage Rennen", the Berlin Six Day 2013, such a unique affair. At the start of each evening they have a 'Vorstellung der Parade der Asse' - a parade of champions.

The VeloVeritas Years – 2008: Shane Sutton – Compassionately Ruthless

Shane Sutton is a man who divides opinion; he's either a messianic coach and mentor - or a crude, sexist, bully of a man. For our part he's only ever been polite, friendly and helpful. Given the near hysteria surrounding the mention of the man's name and as part of our 'The VeloVeritas Years' series of 'look-backs'  we thought you may like to see an interview we did with him after his GB track squad's triumphs in Beijing in 2008.

Eric Heiden – American Hero in Two Sports

Lake Placid, USA 1980 and the XIII Winter Olympics. The Man of the Games? With his 32” waist and 27” thighs clad in that famous gold suit, the very epitome of power and grace there could only be one; Eric Heiden.

Jérémy Roy – Looking Forward to the Show

Last July, Jérémy Roy (FDJ) was becoming well known to followers of the Tour de France, his attacking style gathering him lots of attention and admiration in this, his fourth participation, despite the big win in the biggest race eluding him thus far. In his ninth year as a Pro, but not a regular winner, Jérémy was one of the heroes of Friday's Stage 12 from Cugneaux to Luz Ardiden, having been in the break of six riders which escaped soon after the start and remained in front most of the day.