The 102nd Berlin Six Day 2013 (or Berliner Sechstagerennen) starts in the German Capital on Thursday night. This event is one of the classics of the winter track calendar but despite that unfortunately Six Day racing continues to be in decline.
This is not just something that can be laid at the door of the global economy, rather just a fact of life that times change. As events have left established Six Day cities such as Dortmund, Munich and Stuttgart in recent years due to lack of sponsors and public interest it is left too Berlin, and Bremen, to fly the flag in the country that was once the European home of Six Day racing.
The quality and composition of this year’s field is, like it has been at all this winter’s Sixes, a mixed bag, as there are very few riders that now race at every Six.
In bygone years there was a ‘blue train’ of established riders who went from city to city racing long into the night hours. That culture appears, like the events, to be a thing of the past as riders from the host countries tend to dominate the start lists in those countries’ respective Sixes.
This year the Berlin starting field is, on paper, even weaker than it was 12 months ago.
The list has numerous Berlin debutants as well as 4 or 5 young Six Day novices / rookies. The organisers have not been able to bring riders such as Michael Mørkøv, Iljo Keisse Leigh Howard, Cameron Meyer, Glenn O’Shea or Gijs Van Hoecke to Berlin, probably due their commitment to trade team contracts.
But with the quality of Six Day riders becoming as scarce as events it was again a surprise to see that a few of the strong specialists such as Marc Hester, Christian Grasmann and Silvan Dillier didn’t make the start list either.
It’s not all doom and gloom though as the riders who are present will be motivated to put in performances and compete to the best of their varying abilities, after all the show must go on. So the 32 riders will again start their race to nowhere on the 250 metre track, entertaining another noisy Berlin public inside the Landsberger Allee Velodrome.
Let’s look at the field;
Favourites
Roger Kluge starts only his second Six Day race of the winter as the organisers favourite and is paired with veteran Dutchman Peter Schep.
The talent of Kluge is undoubted and after a great start to his career in 2008 he was seen as a potential star of track and road. Last year his goals of an Olympic medal and improvement on the road didn’t materialise. Entering 2013 at nearly 27 he is he is no longer a young, up and coming future star. He’ll still be seen as the man to beat though so he’ll come to Berlin with a point to prove and will want a second victory in his capital city, following a win with Robert Bartko in 2011.
This is a strong team, especially in a field with no other obvious favourites, as Kluge has the speed and Schep the endurance to make a classic Six Day partnership.
World Madison Champion Kenny de Ketele, has had a good winter season in the rainbow jersey winning two events and placing 2nd in a very hard fought Ghent Six. He is paired with experienced Australian Luke Roberts who returned to Six Day racing with a 2nd place in Bremen (alongside Leif Lampater) last week.
This year De Ketele seems to have improved his finishing speed to go with his increased strength and Six Day experience so alongside a strong pursuit rider like Roberts this team should be the main challengers to Kluge / Schep.
Other Podium Contenders
A couple of years ago Franco ‘marvellous’ Marvulli appeared to be in premature decline but after a good last winter he has continued to show he has indeed re-found his form and most importantly his enthusiasm. Last week he won the Bremen Six with Marcel Kalz and comes into one of his favourite events in good form as well as with good morale, the mental side has always been part of the battle for Franco.
His partner is Berlin born, Austrian national team rider, Andreas Müller who also showed well in Bremen with a career best 4th placed finish.
With so few big name riders in the field Müller gets a rare chance to ride with a top performer – many his previous 70-odd Sixes have been spent looking after inexperienced riders. Mulli, as he is affectionately known, was born just a short walk from the velodrome so with Marvulli at his side his motivation will be sky-high. His chances of making his first ever podium have probably never been better.
The Berlin based Robert Bengsch and Marcel Kalz are reunited following their good showings at the last four Berlin Sixes. The 25 year old Kalz starts in his hometown on the back of his first ever win in Bremen, with Franco Marvulli.
His partner Bengsch won his one and only Six Day at Bremen in 2011 (with Bartko) but hasn’t really shown that same kind of form often since.
The motivation of Berlin could make a difference though so he and Kalz will be aiming to improve on their 5th place finish last year and at least make the podium in 2013.
Elsewhere
The Dutch team present this year comprises Wim Stroetinga and Nick Stöpler both of whom have shown well at Dutch Sixes over the last few years but are debutants in Berlin. On his day Stroetinga is fast and could go well in the time trials.
The 22 year old Stöpler looks like a rider on the rise so if they are both in form could get close to the podium. In the past Stroetinga seemed to lack the endurance to hang on until the death in the chases, a win in Rotterdam (with Schep) last winter being the exception.
It’ll be interesting to see if they can shine in this field of, mostly, lesser lights.
At the Ghent Six in November, French speaking Swiss, Tristan Marguet broke track records in the flying lap and 500 metre time trial and I’m sure his remit in Berlin will be to entertain the crowd in similar fashion.
His partner Tino Thomel gets a fifth start on his home track but has little in the way of international pedigree so this pair won’t be one to watch in the chases.
The Belgian Tim Mertens went well in Ghent but hasn’t had a contract since so will be looking to survive as well as guide Berlin based debutant Hans Pirius around the boards safely for the six days.
Leif Lampater has shown to be a strong rider over his 60-plus starts and along with Marvulli is the only guy to have raced at all the Sixes this winter. He’d probably have been disappointed then that his reward was to play taxi driver to 20 year old Lucas Lib, another of the German debutants.
Not sure of the thinking behind this one as Lampater is a former winner here but without local knowledge it might be that the youngster is seen as a potential future player so pairing him with a strong rider is a way to show him off to the public, with future Berlin Sixes in mind.
The German pair Marcel Barth and Erik Mohs are both still only 26 and have a number of Six Day starts between them. Last year Barth got a few starts outside of Germany but poor showings meant that was not repeated this winter, and he hasn’t shown the potential to be a challenger just an entertainer perhaps?
On the other hand Mohs came onto the scene strongly around 2006-2007 racing with the retired Andreas Beikirch. He seemingly had a big future but after aiming at a road career, that didn’t materialise, he has returned to the track without showing himself to be a potential podium rider.
The organisations love of ‘national’ teams brings French team Morgan Kneisky and Vivien Brisse to Berlin for the first time. Kneisky is a strong track rider and a multiple Worlds medallist so in this field they should stay inside the top 10 and get some good work ahead of the World Championships.