It’s the last day of school today at the Copenhagen Six Day 2011; the Six Day circus goes to ground until October when — God willing — we head south to Grenoble with its blue skies, snow capped mountains, Follies girls, great bread and French riders who smile, shake your hand and give you a ‘ca va?’ every time they see you — they may not be fast but they’re nice guys.
It’s unlikely there will be any surprises tonight, Alex and Michael are well in charge; I hope that Jens and Marc hold on to second — they deserve it.
If there was a prize for ‘most improved riders of the year’ it would have to be the Danish number nines.
The Belgian, Dutch and German riders haven’t made much of a race of it; but they’re all tired — it’s been a long season, I guess.
It was the usual routine, yesterday — do the ‘runner stuff’ then sit down to sort out the words and pictures.
The walk to the restaurant happened late afternoon – we were seated with Colby and Sebastian Donadio, the chat was good and Seba bought us all cappuccinos.
He’s a cool guy, he has a cycling school back in Argentina and is in the process of cutting an album — he’s just changed producers, the original producer was ‘old school’ and couldn’t cope with Seba disappearing to bike races all the time.
The new guy is ‘fully digitised’ and keeps in touch by computer every day — sending Seba files with new arrangements and ideas.
The evening started with the usual sprint series but then visitors started to arrive to our little domain.
Bjarne Riis was first.
Tall, slim, tanned, well dressed and cool — most folks in Denmark have come round to think that he ‘did what he had to do’ in that era to win the Tour and the first ‘clean’ rider was probably down around 27th place.
He’s a quiet man and not into small talk; the net and magazine chat about how this season will be a disaster for him remind me of the famous Mark Twain quote; ‘The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.’
The young riders in the squad — our Michael for example — know they have a chance to shine and will grab that with both hands — and let’s not forget Richie Porte.
Next on the role of honour was pursuit legend — and I use the word correctly — Hans Henrik Orsted.
Hans was on the podium of the World Pro Pursuit Championship for eight (8!) years on the trot, not to mention an Olympic pursuit medal as well.
Bo Hamburger popped by too — still a very popular figure…
Before the evening got too serious, Kris and I took a wander up to Michael’s Par nr. 7 concession stand for a look — he’s done a good job, the merchandise is desirable and available on the ‘net, or through ‘the Scottish outlet’ (which seems to be me!).
The 500 TT and balustrade came and went and it was time for the main event — the 300 lap handicap Madison; with the Big boys give away up to seven laps on the minnows.
It wasn’t a bad race at all; the Russians were well in the mix, but then that Gap Band song came to mind; ‘You Dropped a Bomb On Me’ with one of them riding above the blue line trying to find his comrade in the melee, whilst the other rolled low on the track trying to come out of the ‘red.’
The PA pumped goodies all night and into the finale it looked like it was between Colby & Seba; Jesper & Nick Stöpler and Michael Smith Larsen & Yoeri Havik as the big boys hadn’t quite caught up.
Bur when Czechs Jiri Hochmann & Martin Blaha took themselves on to the ‘zero’ lap, it looked ominous — and so it proved, as Colby said; ‘they just smoked us, man!’
It’s the last night – no washing to do, but back to reality tomorrow.
Ah well.
Copenhagen Six Day 2011 Result
Sprint 1
1 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia 5 pts
2 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 3
3 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC 2
4 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security 1
5 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
6 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
7 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen
8 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
9 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
10 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
11 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
12 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Sprint 2
1 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen 5 pts
2 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling 3
3 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam 2
4 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup 1
5 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
6 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
7 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
8 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
9 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice
10 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia
11 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
12 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark
13 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
14 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Sprint 3
1 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 5 pts
2 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security 3
3 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC 2
4 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 1
5 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
6 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
7 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen
8 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
9 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
10 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
11 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
12 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Sprint 4
1 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S 5 pts
2 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup 3
3 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 2
4 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 1
5 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
6 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
7 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen
8 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
9 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
10 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
11 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia
12 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
13 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
14 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Sprint 5
1 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 5 pts
2 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia 3
3 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen 2
4 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank 1
5 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
6 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
7 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
8 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
9 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
10 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice
11 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
12 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Sprint 6
1 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen 5 pts
2 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security 3
3 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 2
4 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling 1
5 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
6 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
7 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
8 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
9 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
10 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia
11 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
12 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
One Lap Time Trial
1 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen 10 pts
2 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia 6
3 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam 5
4 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank 4
5 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen 3
6 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S 2
7 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
8 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
9 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice
10 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
11 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark
12 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Derny
1 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security 10 pts
2 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen 8
3 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam 6
4 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia 4
5 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 2
6 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen
7 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
8 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
9 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
10 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
11 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark
12 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
13 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
14 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
15 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
500m Time Trial
1 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen 0:00:27.292
2 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank 0:00:27.924
3 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam 0:00:27.963
4 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 0:00:28.310
5 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 0:00:28.587
6 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling 0:00:28.660
7 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand 0:00:28.827
8 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security 0:00:29.024
9 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC 0:00:29.103
10 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup 0:00:29.177
11 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S 0:00:29.329
12 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World 0:00:29.805
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP 0:00:29.827
Derny Sprint
1 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling 10 pts
2 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia 6
3 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S 5
4 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 4
5 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP 3
6 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 2
7 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
8 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
9 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen
10 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand
11 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
12 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
13 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
Giant Sprint
1 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling 14 pts
2 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam 6
3 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 5
4 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen 3
5 Franco Marvulli (Swi)/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Gittermand 2
6 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
7 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
8 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
9 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia
10 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC
11 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark
12 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
13 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP
14 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup
15 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World
75km Handicap Madison
1 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP 20 pts
2 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World 12
3 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup 10
4 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC 8
At One Lap
5 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 6
6 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 4
At Two Laps
7 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank
8 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam
9 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen
10 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S
11 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen
12 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia
13 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security
At Three Laps
14 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling
Overall Standings after Day Five
1 Alex Rasmussen (Den)/Michael Mørkøv (Den) Lundbæk & Hansen 214 pts
2 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den)/Marc Hester (Den) Principia 211
3 Danny Stam (Ned)/Leon van Bon (Ned) DSS Security 157
4 Robert Bartko (Ger)/Robert Bengsch (Ger) Loxam 140
5 Peter Schep (Ned)/Leif Lampater (Ger) Sydbank 137
At One Lap
6 Kenny de Ketele (Bel)/Tim Mertens (Bel) Agerbak Busservice 166
At Two Laps
7 Andreas Müller (Aut)/Tristan Marguet (Swi) PO Nielsen 147
At Ten Laps
8 Niki Byrgesen (Den)/Christian Ranneries (Den) Post Danmark 118
9 Luke Roberts (Aus)/Sebastian Lander (Den) Niscayah A/S 103
At Eleven Laps
10 Nick Stöpler (Ned)/Jesper Mørkøv (Den) Watergroup 101
11 Jiri Hochmann (Cze)/Martin Blaha (Cze) LOOP 58
At Sixteen Laps
12 Michael Smith Larsen (Den)/Yoeri Havik (Ned) Fitness World 58
At Eighteen Laps
13 Colby Pearce (USA)/Sebastian Donadio (Arg) CEC 61
At Twenty Four Laps
14 Alexei Markov(Rus)/Ivan Kovalev (Rus) Claus Dalsgaard A/S / TeleBilling 65
