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Sunday, May 5, 2024

Tag: Six Day Racing

Diaries

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 – Day 6

It must be the end of term at Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007; "Mr. Happy", stoney-faced derny pilot and former king of the big motor drivers, Bruno Walrave was actually laughing at breakfast - hey! It's pay day today too - always good for morale.
Diaries

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 – Day 5

I've arrived; Matt Gilmore said "hello" to me today here at the Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 - wow! It's the Chocolate Jacques team presentation during the six tonight and Matt is here as part of that gig. "Rambo" is here too - Niko Eeckhout, last June in Antwerp at the Belgian elite champs he was in the break with Boonen; the Tomeke fans had their man as a cert to win.
Diaries

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 – Day 4

Kris was just telling us that oxygen cylinders are banned from track centres under UCI regulations. Marc piped-up; "that's a pity, I could have done with a cylinder strapped to my back on the first night!" He's one of the boys now, amazing how much difference a couple of days can make to relationships. It's wet outside and very warm in here, there was a big junior and ladies programme in the morning, complete with the usual crashes. Belgian junior track racing is not for those of a nervous disposition.
Diaries

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 – Day 3

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007. It's 18.00, the juniors are up and keeping the red cross busy. At a time when any sensible person is contemplating a movie then a nice pasta and bottle of red at their favourite Italian restaurant in the company of their sweetheart, we're just about to start work.
Diaries

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 – Day 2

"Aint go bump no mo' with no big fat woman!" Seventies disco and six-day racing - Hot Chocolate, Van McCoy, Cool and the Gang and Joe Tex; the biz! It's 19.35 and the theme from Chariots of Fire is blasting-out, Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 and we're off!
Diaries

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007 – Day 1

Lotto Zesdaagse van Hasselt 2007. Kris picked me up at Dusseldorf Weeze airport at tea time yesterday (Wednesday), it's actually only about two kilometres from Holland so it wasn't long before we found a frites stand. Hasselt is in the Limburg region of Belgium, Flemish speaking and with a population of about 70,000. The local tourist office brochure tries hard to talk the town up but there's not much to say - a nice-enough place though.
Six Days

The Copenhagen Six Day 2005

The Copenhagen Six Day 2005; Danny Kaye is telling me over the public address that it's "Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen". I'm not so sure: it's gone 1.00 am and we have 18 Lycra jerseys; 18 under-vests; six pairs of chamois-lined cycling shorts; six pairs of socks and six pairs of track mitts to hand wash, spin dry and hang up to dry in our 'cabin' in the bowels of the stadium. Welcome to the glamorous world of Six Day bicycle racing.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – Sixth Night

The last day at Grenoble Six Day 2006 isn't too hard for the riders, there's a points race, a time trial and then the big chase - 180 laps of the 210 meter track. I did hear guys complain though that the lack of warm-up races made for sore legs early in the Madison.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – Fifth Night

It's 9.30 and I'm just up, Kris sleeps in the camper van. He says it's more comfortable, but I think it's because I snore so badly. It was interesting at breakfast today; the guys were talking about what they did before they were full-time pro cyclists.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – Fourth Night

It was musical jerseys last night, Franco & Alex Aeschbach took over in the lead, Michael & Alex Rasmussen swopped the leader's jerseys for the points leaders maillot vert but Jozi & Martin lost the combine jersey to DeFauw & Van Mechelen of Belgium.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – Third Night and Franco Marvulli is stressed

Sometimes, you wonder why you are doing this - OK, it's great being around guys like Franco Marvulli and having an insight into the inner-sanctum, but it's hard work, often boring and stressed guys aren't fun to be around.
Interviews

Paolo Bettini – World Road Champion

Some times it's difficult to get an interview, especially if your target is World Road Race Champion, Paolo Bettini. He has a Quick Step entourage with him and he's testing his new Specialized road bike for 2007. But us VeloVeritas guys are persistent, and after stalking him all afternoon I was granted just five minutes of his precious time.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – Second Night

Grenoble Six Day 2006. 17.45: Where did the day go? They are playing Puccini over the stadium PA, the folies girls are rehearsing their routine, you would have to be here to appreciate it, but it's awesome.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – First Night with Alex Rasmussen and Michael Mørkøv

11.20: Picked-up the Danish guys, Alex Rasmussen and Michael Mørkøv at Lyon airport. It's a hassle because it's hard to park the camper and security is tight. Alex looks slimmer than last season whilst Michael is still skeletal. We have to drive all the way back to Grenoble now. At least the sun is out and the scenery is good.
Six Days

An Introduction to Six Day Racing

Six Day races; they're all fixed, aren't they? Yeah, for sure... all you have to do is take a lap from Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli when they are at 97.5 % instead of 'full-gas'. That's maybe 57 kph instead of 58 - Easy! That'll be how then-reigning World Champions, Bob Hayles and Mark Cavendish, were 34 laps down at Ghent last year: because it's so "easy". The truth is that the Sixes are 'choreographed', but if you don't have the legs, you can't win.
Diaries

Grenoble Six Day 2006 – Getting there

"What a difference a day makes," as Esther Phillips once sang. Tuesday afternoon, Charleroi, Belgium and it's cold, grey, wet and windy. We're on our way to the Grenoble Six Day 2006. It has taken us nearly ten hours on the motorway to get to Lyon having been battered by cross-winds and cut-up by manic East European truckers.
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At Random

Diaries

Le Tour de France – Day 6: Stage 18, Bourg D’Oisans to Saint-Etienne

Guten dag! We honoured Carlos yesterday, so we best pay tribute to Big Marcus today. It's been a great Tour for Columbia - and it's not over yet. We had to be flexible today, the plot was to do a bike feature - the top GC riders plus points and mountains leaders - but the start at Bourg-D'Oisans was so tight for space, with team buses in the village streets that there was no room for the team trucks. These went directly to the hotels at the finish in St. Etienne, so it wasn't the best day to bike skek.
Interviews

Dave Hannah – Scottish ’25’ Champion Eight Times!

If you had to name one man who single handedly changed the face of Scottish time trialling? The man who made sure a ‘59’ wasn’t going to win you the ‘25’ champs anymore... Dave Hannah is the man; VeloVeritas caught up with him recently at his home in Shieldhill for a long overdue chat.
Stories

Living at Mrs Deene’s Cyclists’ B&B – Part Two; ‘Racing and Eating!’

At the time I set off for Flanders in 1973 to live at Mrs Deene's, I only knew two people who had raced there – one of them being Stan Butler’s son Keith - who had done well enough that he had become a professional - so it was entirely word-of-mouth, a case of asking for whatever advice people could offer and setting off on the cross-channel ferry, hoping for the best.
Diaries

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.
Interviews

Luke Lamperti – Trinity Racing’s American Champion

When I noticed that 19 years-old US Elite Criterium Champion, Luke Lamperti riding for the British continental team, Trinity Racing had won the Lincoln Grand Prix, I thought; ‘he’d be an interesting man to talk to.’ It took a few days; he had to drive through the night after his Stranraer win to catch his flight home to California where he lives in Sebastopol, a city in Sonoma County, north of San Francisco in the heart of ‘the wine country.’
Race Results

“Rising Westerly” 100 Mile Time Trial 2006

The results of the "Rising Westerly" 100 Mile Time Trial held on the Aberdeen/Stonehaven/Deeside course, and organised by GS Corsa. Carlos Riise (Shetland Wheelers) made another successful "air"“raid" on mainland cycling by comfortably winning the "Rising Westerly" by over 14 minutes from Granite City RT's Norman Skene. Sadly, Scottish 12hr Champion, Joe Wilson (Sandy Wallace Cycles) crashed at Aboyne and was forced to retire. Carlos reported that Joe was probably just over a minute up on him at the time.
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