Herning Six Day Race

Denmark, October 22-27, 1998


Night 1     Night 2     Night 3     Night 4     Night 5     Night 6

Standings after Night 1:

 1. Silvio Martinello (Ita) - Jesper Skibby (Den) 		61 points
 2. Adriano Baffi (Ita) - Tayeb Braikia (Den) 			47
 3. Marco Villa (Ita) - Michael Sandstød (Den) 			44
 4. Bruno Risi (Swi) - Kurt Betschart (Swi) 			40
 5. Matthew Gilmore (Bel) - Etienne de Wilde (Bel) 		56 (+1)
 6. Rolf Sørensen (Den) - Jimmi Madsen (Den) 			46
 7. Rolf Aldag (Ger) - Mikael Kyneb (Den) 			15
 8. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) - Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 		15 (+3)
 9. Rob Hayles (GB) - Scott McGrory (Aus) * 			14
10. Mario Vonhof (Ger) - Ronny Lerche (Ger) 			11
11. Rik van Slijcke (Bel) - Lorenzo Lapage (Bel)		 6
* Britain's Rob Hayles was a last-minute replacement for Brett Aitken, who is injured.

Standings after Night 2:

 1. Marco Villa (Ita) - Michael Sandstød (Den) 			122 points
 2. Silvio Martinello (Ita) - Jesper Skibby (Den)		192 (+1)
 3. Rolf Sørensen (Den) - Jimmi Madsen (Den) 			169
 4. Adriano Baffi (Ita) - Tayeb Braikia (Den) 			151
 4. Matthew Gilmore (Bel) - Etienne de Wilde (Bel) 		151
 6. Bruno Risi (Swi) - Kurt Betschart (Swi) 			137
 7. Rolf Aldag (Ger) - Mikael Kyneb (Den) 			 61 (+6)
 8. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) - Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 		 63 (+8)
 9. Mario Vonhof (Ger) - Ronny Lerche (Ger) 			 60 (+11)
10. Rik van Slijcke (Bel) - Lorenzo Lapage (Bel)		 36 (+12)
11. Rob Hayles (GB) - Scott McGrory (Aus)			 55 (+13)

Standings after Night 3:

Kim Plesner Fredericksen has sent me very bad news from Herning. On Saturday night, Matthew Gilmore hit Adriano Baffi as he was riding a 500m time sprint. Gilmore is now in hospital with a destroyed lung and perhaps a broken back. Baffi's shoulder is damaged, so he's almost certainly also out of the race. For the moment De Wilde and Braikia (the partners of Baffi and Gilmore) have joined forces.

Tommy Rønning reports that the Danish News Television has said that Gilmore hit someone on the inside of the track (a helper) at approximately 65 km/h. The helper was thrown into Baffi by the blow from Gillmore. Also Jesper Skibby was hit by a spectator (accidently?). He was neutralized, but is now riding with a sore shoulder/arm.

Fat Nick writes thatit appears that a mechanic stepped back into the track while world madison champions Etienne de Wilde and Matthew Gilmore were riding a 500 m time trial. Gilmore's head hit the mechanic, and Gilmore crashed very heavily.

The mechanic was thrown forward into Adriano Baffi. The mechanic has a dislocated hip, Baffi has a dislocated shoulder and is out of the race.

Matthew Gilmore is the most seriously hurt. he has punctured a lung, and has bruised the base of his spine and broken his jaw. he also has other facial injuries, and is in hospital in Denmark with his wife at his side. He was unconscious for over 10 minutes at the track.

Just a few minutes later, an idiot fan leaned over the top rail and punched Jesper Skibby in the shoulder as he rode past, causing heavy bruising, so Silvio Martinello is now riding with Britain's Rob Hayles for the rest of the race.

Further news comes from Matt Conn who is a close friend. Matt is in Hospital in Denmark and although quite heavily sedated he spoke to his father, Graeme, on Sunday night. There appears to be no serious head injuries, and he can move his arms and legs reasonably well (despite a broken shoulder). They were to conduct a CAT scan/MRI on his back to ensure that there was no serious damage. there was a lot of internal bleeding and this is possibly linked to spleen damage, but the scan will reveal more about that.

His parents, Kay and Graeme, were to travel to europe next week for an extended holiday that included watching Matt at man6y of his ^day races. They are still travelling this weekend, but are unsure if they will go to Denmark, or if matt will be back in Belgium by then.

Matt's wife Andrea (sister of Paul Dobson 2 times Australian track champ) has travelled to Herning from their house outside of Ghent.

If I hear any more I will let you know, because Matt still has a lot of friends back here in Australia (maybe not many in the hierachy, but what can you expect after rubbing their faces in it so well, after being overlooked so often)

 1. Rolf Sørensen (Den) - Jimmi Madsen (Den) 			263
 2. Bruno Risi (Swi) - Kurt Betschart (Swi) 			234
 3. Marco Villa (Ita) - Michael Sandstød (Den) 			216
 4. Etienne de Wilde (Bel) - Tayeb Braikia (Den) 		189 (+1)
 5. Silvio Martinello (Ita) - Jesper Skibby (Den)		219 (+2)
 6. Rolf Aldag (Ger) - Mikael Kyneb (Den) 			 86 (+10)
 7. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) - Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 		103 (+11)
 8. Mario Vonhof (Ger) - Ronny Lerche (Ger) 			 79 (+15)
 9. Rob Hayles (GB) - Scott McGrory (Aus)			 67 (+16)
10. Rik van Slijcke (Bel) - Lorenzo Lapage (Bel)		 56 (+16)

Standings after Night 4:

 1. Rolf Sørensen (Den) - Jimmi Madsen (Den) 			315
 2. Bruno Risi (Swi) - Kurt Betschart (Swi) 			306
 3. Etienne de Wilde (Bel) - Tayeb Braikia (Den) 		258
 4. Silvio Martinello (Ita) - Jesper Skibby (Den)		315 (+1)
 5. Marco Villa (Ita) - Michael Sandstød (Den) 			281 (+1)
 6. Rolf Aldag (Ger) - Mikael Kyneb (Den) 			139 (+13)
 7. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) - Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 		149 (+16)
 8. Mario Vonhof (Ger) - Ronny Lerche (Ger) 			137 (+20)
 9. Rik van Slijcke (Bel) - Lorenzo Lapage (Bel)		 94 (+21)

Final Standings:

 1. Bruno Risi (Swi) - Kurt Betschart (Swi) 			355 pts
 2. Rolf Sørensen (Den) - Jimmi Madsen (Den) 			385 (+1)
 3. Silvio Martinello (Ita) - Jesper Skibby (Den)		375 (+1)
 4. Marco Villa (Ita) - Michael Sandstød (Den) 			312 (+1)
 5. Etienne de Wilde (Bel) - Tayeb Braikia (Den) 		289 (+1)
 6. Rolf Aldag (Ger) - Mikael Kyneb (Den) 			154 (+16)
 7. Torsten Schmidt (Ger) - Andreas Beikirch (Ger) 		173 (+18)
 8. Mario Vonhof (Ger) - Ronny Lerche (Ger) 			155 (+23)
 9. Rik van Slijcke (Bel) - Lorenzo Lapage (Bel)		100 (+25)