Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Berlin Six Day 2013 – Final Report

-

HomeRaceSix DaysBerlin Six Day 2013 - Final Report

A crowd of around 12,000 filed into the Landsberger Allee Velodrome tonight for the Berlin Six Day 2013. The large numbers continued a trend for the Six Days – with an estimated 70,000 coming through the doors – attendance figures are up rather than down, a good sign going forward.

On the track, following Mondays racing the standings were tighter than they looked on Sunday afternoon with Kalz / Bengsch, Kluge / Schep and Müller / Marvulli all gaining a lap on the weekend leaders De Ketele / Roberts.

So with four teams in the hunt here is how the final night in Berlin went.

Berlin Six Day 2013
Peter Schep takes over from Roger Kluge. Photo©John Young

With points gained during the opening Sprints race counting towards the overall classification the top teams got involved and improved their totals.

The team Elimination was the main opportunity of the evening for the top teams to gain 20 valuable points and it was Müller / Marvulli who gained maximum points ahead of De Ketele / Roberts.

The win left the Swiss / German combination poised to gain a bonus lap and Kluge / Schep also close at this stage of the evening.

Berlin Six Day 2013
Kenny De Ketele and Luke Roberts exchange during a chase. Photo©John Young

The Derny Final was another crowd pleaser, these races are not usually important to the standings although the leading teams picked up a point or two. The win in this one went too Roger Kluge and Peter Schep who did want the points on the way to a bonus lap.

The last 1,000 metre Time Trial saw another good performance from Marcel Kalz and Robert Bengsch who posted a time of 55.863.

The last race before the big final chase was a Points race won by Marcel Barth and Erik Mohs.

Berlin Six Day 2013
Nick Stopler drives the chase. Photo©John Young

Finale – 60 Minute Madison

The final chase went back and forth with the final result in doubt until just a few laps from the finish.

The ‘Berlin team’ of Marcel Kalz and Robert Bengsch started the finale a lap in arrears but did their utmost to overturn the deficit.

Time and time again they went on the attack and did actually hold the lead for a while but going into the final 50 laps, and the bonus sprints, they’d run out of gas and ultimately had to settle for 4th place.

The race for the Berlin Six was between De Ketele / Roberts and Kluge / Schep although Marvulli / Müller where on the same lap they weren’t able to challenge in the sprints.

Berlin Six Day 2013
Robert Bartko and Thoe Reinhardt share a joke with the MC. Photo©John Young

With 8 laps and just the final sprint left Peter Schep pulled clear and he and Roger Kluge held a 100 metre gap all the way to the finish despite the best efforts of De Ketele and Luke Roberts.

The Belgian / Australian team had looked the strongest over the weekend but Kluge appeared to get stronger as the Six progressed and he came into form just at the right time to make up for a disappointing result last year.

In 3rd place Andreas Müller will be pleased to get his first ever podium, with his partner Marvulli confirming he has re-found his appetite for the Sixes amidst talk of an early retirement.

For Kenny De Ketele 2nd place in consecutive years must have been disappointing.

He seemed to be the strong man of his team but couldn’t match the combined endurance and strength of Schep and Kluge.

Berlin Six Day 2013
The final podium. Photo©Ed Hood

Berlin Six Day 2013 - Results


Final Standings


1. Kluge (Ger) – Schep (Ned) 261 points
2. De Ketele (Bel) – Roberts (Aus) 258
3. Marvulli (Swi) – Müller (Ger) 233
@ 1 lap
4. Bengsch (Ger) – Kalz (Ger) 255
5. Bartko – Reinhardt (Ger) 174
@ 4 laps
6. Grassmann (Ger) – Thömel (Ger) 106
@ 5 laps
7. Kneisky (Fra) – Brisse (Fra) 107
@ 7 laps
8. Barth (Ger) – Mohs (Ger) 138
@ 8 laps
9. Lampater (Ger) – Lib (Ger) 101
10. Stroetinga (Ned) – Stopler (Ned) 58
@ 15 laps
11. Bommel (Ger) – Thiele (Ger) 51
12. Mertens (Bel) – Pirius (Ger) 82
@ 17 laps
13. Masotti (Ita) – Ciccone (Ita) 66
@ 18 laps
14. Morkov (Den) – Wotschke (Ger) 45
15. Krasnow (Rus) – Ershov (Rus) 42
@ 22 laps
16. East (USA) – Schroder (Ger) 51

Sprinters, Stehers and Ladies

The leading Sprinter of the week was Maximilian Levy who took the Berlin trophy ahead of Robert Forstemann. Both were part of the London 2012 bronze medal trio in the Team Sprint they’ll know be focusing regaining the World Championships in Minsk (Belarus) next month.

Berlin Six Day 2013
Robert Forsterman full gas. Photo©John Young

Tying up the Steher prize was Berliner, Florian Fernow. This event always entertains the public but this style of racing needs a much larger track so these races are really exhibitions albeit run off at speeds of over 70kmph.

The Ladies-Cup was a two horse race with Stephanie Pohl beating Charlotte Becker by just 1 point over the 4 day Omnium style competition.

Special mention goes out to 20 year old Brit Hannah Walker who came out here alone and raced hard during the competition with no official back up or support.

Despite being the lonely long distance cyclist she enjoyed the experience prior to heading off to Tenerife for road training.

Related Articles

Gent Six Day 2009 – Night Two; Iljo Keisse!

It's different here; the butcher asks you how Keisse is doing in the six and the local paper has Iljo in full colour, on the cover. In the same paper - De Gentenaar - which is a local 'rag,' there's a two page guide to track racing and two pages of stats on the 2009 season.

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.

Jack Simes – American Track and Six Day Legend

Daniel Holloway and Colby Pearce are regulars on the Six Day scene, and this season we've been helping to look after two other young American riders at the races; Jackie Simes and Brad Huff. US riders win classics and Grand Tours and there are US Pro Tour teams. It was different in 1970 though, with not one single US rider holding a professional licence — enter Jackie's dad, Mr. Jack Simes.

Andreas Müller – Sights are Set Higher These Days

I remember interviewing Andreas Müller a year or two ago and him telling me that he'd be happy to emulate the career of German former Six Day rider Gert Dörich, who was the 'Taxi Driver' par excellence during his long career which took in 163 Six Day races.

At Random

Giro d’Italia 2013 – Stage 12: Longarone – Treviso 134km. Cavendish Reaches 100!

Mark Cavendish, there's little left to say, really. He's the best roadman sprinter in the world - and his partnership with Steegmans is developing into something special. It's not as if anyone is going to lean on Big Gert...

Ian Field Blog – Another Frustrating Day

Ian Field Blog on VeloVeritas. Some days are good, same days are bad, and some days are a bit of both. Yesterday was a bit of both which left me very frustrated and disappointed with my result.

Evan Oliphant – Success in the States

VeloVeritas caught up with Evan Oliphant recently to chat about his and his team's very successful racing trip to the states, here's what Ev had to say about it.

Le Tour de France 2009 – Stage 20: Montélimar > Mont Ventoux, 167km

Today was the famous Mont Ventoux stage... It's 9:00 pm and we're headed for the A7 "Autoroute du Soleil," and the drive north to Paris.