I decided not to mention the demise of Franco Ballerini in my reports; the Copenhagen Six Day is a joyous thing and it’s hard to write about a tragic death and be upbeat.
All I would say is that he was a man; any Italian who can come to the North and win the biggest races, has my respect.
His work as Italian boss was excellent; probably the best drilled national team in the World.
Vai con Dio, Franco.
* * *
Sunday is an early finish – 18:00 – at Copenhagen, but it’s still a bit of a sore one because of the early start.
The pro racing commences at 14:25; I got to bed at 02:00, rose at 08:00, wrote up my VeloVeritas diary, prepared for my interview with Daniel Holloway and edited the Day three pics.
I’d scheduled breakfast for 10:30 and to meet Jacob Mørkøv at the track for 11:00, to sort out the kit; I was in the cabin bang on time and Jacob wasn’t far behind me.
He’s a huge help, he knows all the Danish guys, having raced a bit himself and is familiar with their kit.
I was supposed to meet Daniel Holloway around an hour before the racing started, but the power died in the cabin and I had to get hold of the maintenance guy and be on hand to explain; ‘electric kaput!‘
The fact that it was the power was a huge relief; initially I thought I’d broken the kettle.
My mind was racing ahead to what Kris would say; it would have been a wheedling-and-a-half.
I caught up with Daniel about 15 minutes before the rolling presentation but after only a few questions, former Copenhagen Six winner and now race official, Jimmi Madsen arrived with … a chicken suit, for Daniel.
‘I’ll come back later, dude‘ I said as I left him to struggle in to yellow feathers.
His team mate, Colby Pearce summed it up best; ‘what the f**k is that?‘
‘Hollywood,’ as they call him, then did the whole of the rolling presentation in the chicken suit – to the delight of all.
I think he’s sealed his 2011 Copenhagen contract, with that one.
Extrovert though he is – I caught up with him later, to finish the interview – he’s an articulate, sharp guy, who knows what he wants to do.
‘Wasn’t it hot in that suit, Daniel?‘ I asked.
‘Yeah, after about four laps, I said to Colby, “I don’t know if I’m gonna make it!” but I managed it, somehow.‘
He’s a one off – albeit I have received correspondence from Dave Chapman that the Bissell man’s socks are too long and I’ve to ‘have a word!’
And the next time someone tells you that the sixes are a “fixed,” ponder these stats from Daniel’s computer for the previous night’s madison – Distance covered in one hour: 57 kilometres. Highest speed achieved during the race: 68 kph. Maximum cadence: 161. Gear: 50 x 15 – piece of cake.
The atmosphere in the stadium was great today; virtually sold out, except for the new higher tier