VeloVeritas

Daniel Holloway – “it would be cool if I could start putting my hands back in the air”(0)

Californian Daniel Holloway, aka ‘Hollywood’ was a surprise addition to the ranks of Raleigh, this season.

Known as a man who likes to have fun, his jokes and vast array of “Oakleys for every occasion” disguise the fact that the 24-year old is a quality athlete.

Kenny De Ketele – “I need goals to aim for”(0)

Dreams, we all have them, but most of us don’t realise them. When Kenny De Ketele was a boy, he’d go to the Kuipke velodrome in Gent to watch the Six Days and dream of riding and winning on the hallowed boards. And he’d look at the world champions in their sparkling white rainbow jerseys and dream of the day when he could pull one over his head.

But unlike most of us, Kenny has realised his dreams.

Ryan Oelkers – “I wouldn’t have changed a thing”(0)

With the World Track Championships only a few weeks away, we thought we’d talk to some top riders who you may know not much about, guys with interesting stories to tell, our “left-field’ stars.

Cleveland, Ohio, 1949: and when Charles Bergna and Cecil Yates hoisted their bouquets over their heads little did they know that it would be more than 50 years before another US pairing would do the same thing. It was Bergna’s third win in Cleveland, his final career total was five wins; Yates was more prolific with 16 wins-but it was te end of the Golden Age for US Six Day riders. It was Moscow in 2002 before the Stars and Stripes would fly for both riders at the end of a Six Day race-for 2000 Olympic sprint champion Marty Nothstein and our left-fielder, Ryan Oelkers.

Charline Joiner – Pushing Past the Pain Barrier(0)

VeloVeritas spoke recently to Commonwealth Games Team Sprint Silver Medallist Charline Joiner after her ride at the Rotterdam Six Day.

Dirk Dekeyser – Life as a Bike Mechanic(2)

Who makes sure the wheels turn smoothly during a six day race? The mechanics are the men who change the gears, stick on the tyres, endlessly polish the paintwork and pick up the pieces after crashes.

They arrive first to build the bikes up and leave last after having stripped the bikes down for transit. What makes a man want to roam Europe, often driving a thousand kilometres through the night to get to the next race – or to get home? We spoke to circuit spanner man, Dirk Dekeyser at the Grenoble Six.

Jack Simes – American Track and Six Day Legend(4)

Daniel Holloway and Colby Pearce are regulars on the Six Day scene; US riders win classics and Grand Tours, there are US Pro Tour teams.

It was different in 1970; with not one US rider holding a professional licence-enter Jack Simes.

We spoke to the man who was the first US rider to turn a pedal on the Six Day tracks for nearly 20 years and who hopes to bring the sport back to its spiritual home in the USA.

Dirk Van Hove – Gent’s ‘Honorary Aussie’ and the man behind the ‘Aussie Cup’(2)

He’s more Australian than most folks from ‘Down Under’ – despite the fact that he’s from Gent in the heart of Flanders.

He’s currently writing a history of Australian cycling, he’s the Drapac team’s European Co-ordinator, he’s a photographer at the Gent Six Day, and he’s VeloVeritas’ biggest asset and chauffeur at Het Nieuwsblad.

He’s Dirk Van Hove.

Andreas Müller – “I Could Ride Madisons All Day!”(1)

It’s hard to break into the six day circuit; but if there’s a local rider with promise or a road star that needs mentoring then there has to be a rider on the circuit to provide hands on guidance. Enter Austria’s Andreas Muller.

Muller was a member of the German track squad during the last decade with strong results, like silver in the 1999 Moscow World Cup team pursuit; Madison bronze in the Chinese round of the World Cup in 2002 and Madison gold in the Moscow and Sydney rounds of the 2003 World Cup.

Marc Hester – Dreaming of Success on Road and Track(0)

In any sport there comes a time when the order changes, the old stars fade away and the new ones begin to shine brighter. But Dane Marc Hester is no super nova, shining brightly then gone, it’s taken him several years to get to where he is in the six day constellation.

Despite being only 25 Hester has ridden nearly 60 six day races, so his three podiums this year-third at Grenoble and Bremen plus second in Copenhagen – are no surprise, more the result of a steady ascent through the heavens from UIV cup winner in 2005 to genuine contender for wins in 2011.

As well as improved results this six day season Hester has netted himself a contract with Michael Rasmussen’s controversial Christina Watches team for 2011.

Peter Traynor – The Man Behind the Madison Music(0)

If you ever decide to promote a six day race there’s a check list you’ll have to go through. Start with a short steep indoor track; the best riders you can afford; food and drink concessions; a cool light show; a good ‘speaker’; maybe some live acts-but one of your key ingredients will be music. A six day final chase with no music would be unthinkable-be it live jazz in Grenoble, 70′s disco in Gent or funky trombones in Rotterdam, you need ‘sounds.’

Enter Peter Traynor, originally from the Wirral Peninsula across the Mersey River from Liverpool – the city that gave us the Beatles and the ‘Mersey Sound’ – he’s the man behind what’s blasting from the speakers at the German six days; he recently took time to talk to VeloVeritas about his passion.

Iljo Keisse – Putting the Worst Time of His Life Behind Him(0)

The cheer from the cabin next door to ours – below the Grenoble velodrome – told us that the result Flanders had been holding it’s breath for, had arrived. Belgium’s number one six day man, Iljo Keisse’s ‘positif’ in the 2008 Gent six day race has been dismissed on the grounds of ‘insufficient evidence.’

“Cathine was not found in the ‘B’ sample and HCT was there in quantities so small as to have no effect on performance.”

VeloVeritas was granted the first face to face interview with Iljo, after the result was announced.

Michael Mørkøv – No. 1 Madison Rider in the World(0)

Nine gold medals at the Worlds for Team GB – wow! So, the rest of the World will be happy to compete for silvers at Beijing? Hardly!

One man who’ll be doing his best to deny Bradley Wiggins two gold medals in China is Denmark’s Michael Mørkøv. He took bronze in the Madison at Manchester, last month partnered by compatriot and former world scratch champion, Alex Rasmussen.

Michael didn’t make the Danish team pursuit squad that dipped below the magical four minute barrier to take silver behind the British squad; but he hopes to rectify that by the time Beijing is upon us.

Maurice Burton – British 20km Champion, 1974(0)

It’s Leicester’s Saffron Lane velodrome, August 1974. The newly crowned British 20 kilometre champion, Maurice Burton waves his bouquet. Sections of the crowd are booing. Is it because the champion rode a tactical race, not killing himself in the winning break, conserving his sprint? Perhaps, but Burton has just made history, he is Britain’s first black senior champion.

Cycling Weekly of the time tells us the championship was a, ‘travesty’ and continues: ‘if Hallam, Moore and Bennett hadn’t run into trouble, Burton would never have been allowed to walk away with it.’

Paolo Bettini – World Road Champion(0)

Some times it’s difficult to get an interview, especially if your target is World Road Race Champion, Paolo Bettini. He has a Quick Step entourage with him and he’s testing his new Specialized road bike for 2007. But us VeloVeritas guys are persistent, and after stalking him all afternoon I was granted just five minutes of his precious time.