The camper, 10:23 Wednesday morning, and the Copenhagen Six Day 2012 is all over. The cabins are bare; Dirk is in his camper headed for Drongen; Jackie and his dad have been safely deposited at the airport and we’re heading into Copenhagen for a little bit of R & R before we get the plane home.
The local newspapers perhaps best reflect the state of the Republic of Six Days, just a few column inches – the Contador Saga grabs page after page.
A good Copenhagen Six Day race, but not a great one.
Marc Hester’s transformation from immature laddie who played at his training and was a little bit of a pain, to mature, serious athlete, race winner and decent guy is complete.
I caught up with him for a few words after the final;
”When I saw that I had been paired with Iljo it gave me a big boost, but it was too much to think about winning – Alex Rasmussen and Michael Morkov are such strong riders.
“This is a childhood dream for me, I’ve ridden here every year since Robert Slippens and Danny Stam won in 2006, but to finally win is amazing.
“I kinda had to put my brain away in the last 50 laps, we were going so deep, but I really wanted the win.
“Pair number 7 is the famous one in Danish six day racing but I think that I’ve put a big line under pair number 9 with this win.”
Indeed, Marc.
Here’s what Iljo Keisse had to say in the QuickStep press release;
“This season has been one of my best so far.
“I’ve won four Six-Day (Amsterdam, Grenoble, Zurich, Copenhagen) with four different partners and the European Championship with De Ketele and I’ve made it to the podium three times in three different races.
“It’s been a fantastic season.”
For sure, Iljo.
Our boys, Alex and Michael lead going in to the last night but four wins on the trot would be too many, some even said that the hat trick was taking it too far.
Big Bob Bartko and Leif Lampater were third for Germany; the ‘Potsdam Bear’ isn’t just quite the beast he was a year or two ago and Leif is a little too ‘laid back’ to win big.
In fourth place were the men from Holland – Rotterdam winner, Wim Stroetinga paired with Danny Stam in his final Six Day race.
In fifth spot was our own Franco ‘Marvellous’ Marvulli paired with Michael’s wee brother, Jesper.