90th Six Days of Berlin - 6D

Germany, January 25-30, 2001

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Day 6 - January 30

Martinello/Aldag finish on top

By Scott Anderson

The Berlin Six-Day wound to a furious finish on Tuesday night with Silvio Martinello and Rolf Aldag emerging as overall victors after besting Andreas Kappes and Andreas Beikirch in the final sprint. Third place went to the current World Madison Champions, Stefan Steinweg and Erik Weisspfennig, with the Italian duo of Adriano Baffi/Marco Villa taking fourth ahead of Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart.

At the start of the final one hour Madison, Martinello/Aldag and Kappes/Beikirch were tied on laps and on points. Two other teams on the lead lap, Steinweg/Weisspfennig and Villa/Baffi, could not make up the points deficit and would need to gain a lap to win. Risi/Betschart lay only one lap behind the leaders, still in with a chance at overall victory.

After a series of attacks and counter-attacks mid-way through the race, with Steinweg/Weisspfennig being particularly active in an effort to record their first professional Six-Day victory, the four leading teams entered the final phase of the race on the same lap. During the fight for the sprint points Kappes/Beikirch managed to gain a lap; Martinello/Aldag countered, Steinweg/Weisspfennig glued to their wheels, red jerseys leading rainbow jerseys. Driving the pace up to 55 km/h, the Italian-German team stretched their advantage and closed on the back of the field.

With only a handful of laps remaining Rolf Aldag chased to within twenty metres and threw in Martinello. After taking the lap, the Italian immediately went high around the string of riders and continued on the attack in an effort to set up his partner for the final sprint, with Weisspfennig hanging on grimly and Beikirch trying desperately to close the gap behind. The leading teams were once again even on laps, and the points totals so close enough that the overall win would be decided in the last sprint. At the bell Martinello threw in Aldag, Weisspfennig threw in Steinweg. The World Champion came around to win the sprint, but by finishing ahead of Kappes, Aldag secured the overall victory with Martinello.

Berlin brought this winter's Six-Day season to a thrilling close. It was a difficult race for the riders, who enjoyed no rest day after the Stuttgart Six, but travelled through the night to start again the following evening. Many fell victim to a flu virus that passed from cabin to cabin. Olympic Champion Scott McGrory withdrew, flying home to Australia; others took days off or dropped out, leading to several recombined teams among the lower-placed riders. Despite fatigue and illness, the Madison races would inevitably finish at a furious tempo.

Although the long Madison races are the heart of the Six-Day, there is much more on the program. The evening generally begins with a strange "warm-up" points race (no laps are counted so the riders regroup after every sprint) set to music. The 18 teams exchange at halfway, one partner starting the race, the other finishing. Later there will be miss-and-out or elimination races, short points races with all 36 riders on the track, flying lap records or tempo races.

The miss-and-out Madison is particularly spectacular, with riders at the back sprinting to avoid elimination while dodging the exchanging pairs. (Imagine for a moment the skill needed to ride a miss-and-out and a Madison simultaneously without crashing.) Derny races are always a crowd favourite. Nine riders line up behind the small motorcycles ridden by old men for a short but very intense event. The Derny races often finish with a three-abreast sprint over the final laps. The teams exchange at half-distance - throwing a hand sling behind a motor at 65 km/h cannot be easy - or occasionally ride full Derny-paced Madison, exchanging every few laps.

Then there are the chases, the Madisons, generally a short 30 minute chase early in the evening followed several hours later by a long 45 to 60 minute chase. For the overall victory, laps count ahead of points. Laps can only be won or lost in a Madison, but all of the minor events contribute omnium points that can be added to the total sprint points built up during the chases. In a close race, the standing in every race can be critical.

To fill out the program and give the Six-Day pros a rest between events, there is a sprint tournament and a nightly stayer race behind the big motors. The sprinters play to the crowd, stretching standstills well past the three minutes allowed, bumping and throwing hooks as the sprint winds up. This year, local hero Jens Fiedler defeated kilometre specialist Sören Lausberg for the overall victory; World Champion Jan van Eijden, Latvian Ainars Kiksis and the now definitively retired World Keirin Champion Frédéric Magné rounded out the field.

The stayer race never fails to generate intense excitement, as motor-paced events enjoy a long tradition in Germany. The roar of the big bikes, the vibration of the track and the sight of riders whirling around at 75 km/h (12 second laps on a 250 m velodrome) all contribute to an electric atmosphere. Berlin's multiple World Champion Carsten Podlesch was clearly the dominant rider in the stayer competition, finishing well clear of fellow German Stephan Klare in the overall standings.

It just wouldn't be a Six-Day without the beer, the bratwurst and the bands. Sixes are part sport and part show, and Berlin is certainly no exception to this rule. Sell-out crowds of over twelve thousand packed into the velodrome for each of the weekend sessions. It was difficult to tell if the fans came for the racing or for the party. There were bands, there was a dance hall next to the track, there were bars and food stands in the infield and around the concourse. You are never far from beer and sausages at the Sechstagerennen. (Thankfully the new Berlin velodrome, built in 1997, has a modern ventilation system so the cigarette smoke is almost tolerable.)

The defining memory of the Berlin Six, though, is the music. You may not remember much about the racing, but it will be weeks before you can get those dreadful, repetitive German songs out of your head. (As a malicious farewell gift for the Canadian amateurs I was helping, I bought a CD containing four mixes of the painfully irritating Six-Day song - "schneller, schneller, immer wieder schneller - noch 'ne runde, noch 'ne runde, noch 'ne runde" repeated endlessly ("faster, faster, even faster - another lap, another lap, another lap"). This is possibly the best song ever recorded for riding the rollers or annoying your cycling friends at post-race barbecues.)

When you see how hard the riders fight at the end of the chase, you know that this is serious racing. The result is not fixed in advance, as is sometimes rumoured about the Six-Day circus. But there are rules, nevertheless, and for the more experienced spectator, it is fascinating to watch how the races unfold. The contrast between the Madisons in the Berlin Six and at the World Championships or Olympics is obvious. A championship event with a points race format with sprints every ten laps is all-out war, with constant attacks and riders swarming up and down the track.

A regular Six-Day chase is a much more orderly affair. The points sprints are reserved for the last fifty laps, once the bulk of the race has been completed. After a gentle start, one or two of the lower-placed teams will accelerate and quickly win a lap. The field rides single file at a fast but moderate tempo. One by one, in small groups or alone, the teams attack and gain laps. The pace is steady, the riding disciplined; gaps never open, no teams are dropped. There is constant action, the crowd grows increasingly enthused, but somehow by about the two-thirds mark in the race all the top teams have gained the same number of laps and everyone is back exactly where they started.

Then, as the sprints approach, the real racing begins. The speed increases, attacks are quickly countered or chased as the leading teams try to prevent their rivals winning laps, the sprints are ferociously contested. By the end, the riders are giving all they have and the crowd is on its feet screaming.

To anyone who has ridden or even watched an amateur Madison, the professional races are things of beauty. The racing pack is single file, on the black line. Riders on relief stay on the blue and drop to the red for exchanges. You almost never see teams miss an exchange, and you certainly never see anyone ride under exchange. When riders swing off the front they ride high then drop to the back; they trust the riders ahead of them not to open gaps and they don't swarm two and three abreast, which is what makes exchanges so difficult and dangerous in an amateur race. Crashes certainly happen in the professional Sixes, but not as frequently as one would expect. There is a lot of cooperation and camaraderie between the riders, and a great deal of discipline.

Like most European Sixes, Berlin featured a program of supporting races in the early evening. In addition to the international amateur Six, there were nightly Madisons for juniors and two younger age groups. When you see 13 and 14 year olds throwing hand-slings, you begin to understand why most of the Six-Day pros are German! I spent much of my week helping the Canadian pair, Glenn Rendal and Alex Cloutier, who managed a very respectable tenth overall in the amateur race despite their lack of international experience and some heavy legs after a long flight over.

Finally, as the 2000/2001 winter season draws to a close, we are left with the good news that more Sixes will be added to the calendar next year, including summer Sixes on the outdoor tracks in Italy and new races in Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Milan.

Results

Professionals

Final classification after night 6

1 Silvio Martinello (Ita)/Rolf Aldag (Ger)    348 pts
2 Andreas Kappes/Andreas Beikirch (Ger)       340 
3 Stefan Steinweg/Erik Weispfennig (Ger)      298 

1 lap behind: 

4 Marco Villa/Adriano Baffi (Ita)             287 

4 laps behind: 

5 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart (Swi)             150 

6 laps behind: 

6 Robert Slippens/Danny Stam (Ned)            167 

7 laps behind: 

7 Mario Vonhof/Gerd Dörich (Ger)              106 

8 laps behind: 

8 Jimmi Madsen (Den)/Jens Lehmann (Ger)       132 
9 Franz Stocher (Aut)/Torsten Schmidt (Ger)   126 

9 laps behind: 

10 Guido Fulst/Ralf Liehner (Ger)             135 

15 laps behind: 

11 Andy Flickinger (Fra)/Andreas Walzer (Ger) 121 

16 laps behind: 

12 Etienne Dewilde/Matthew Gilmore (Bel)       75 

18 laps behind: 

13 Sebastian Siedler (Ger)/Frank Corvers (Bel)119 

19 laps behind: 

14 Christian Weber/Alexander Aeschbach (Swi)  129 

21 laps behind: 

15 Lars Teutenberg/Dirk Ronellenfitsch (Ger)  126 

22 laps behind: 

16 Andreas Müller/Bernhard Wächter (Ger)      57 

24 laps behind: 

17 Lorenzo Lapage (Bel)/Jörn Reuss (Ger)      49

Final classification

1 Jens Fiedler (Ger)               36 pts 
2 Sören Lausberg (Ger)             39 
3 Jan van Eijden (Ger)             48 
4 Frédéric Magné (Fra)             65 
5 Ainars Kiksis (Lat)              67

Final classification

1 Carsten Podlesch (Ger)/Bruno Walrave (Ned)     8 pts
2 Stefan Klare (Ger)/Christian Dippel (Ger)      14 
3 Hanskurt Brand (Swi)/René Aebi (Swi)           16 
4 Marko Ulbricht (Ger)/Helmuth Baur (Ger)        22 
5 Laurent de Paoli (Bel)/Manfred Schmadtke (Ger) 29 
6 Jan Richter (Ger)/Jozef de Bakker (Bel)        34 
7 Sabino Cannone (Ita)/Dieter Durst (Ger)        38

Final classification

1 Daniel Palicki/Oliver Riesenbeck (Ger)         173 pts
2 Marc Altmann/Jan Pockrandt (Ger)               164 
3 André Kalfack/Mario Zeckra (Ger)               157 
4 Leif Lampater/Stefan Löffner (Ger)             157 
5 Victor Ulzen/Jan Ott (Ger)                     134 
6 Ronny Buchholz/Christian Klein (Ger)           131 
7 Julien Tejada/Benoît Genauzeau (Fra)           120 
8 Christian Bach/Daniel Schlegel (Ger)           119 
9 De Schemp/Björn Nachtergaele (Bel)             96 
10 Alexandre Cloutier/Glenn Rendal (Can)         77 
11 Hanjo Veit/Martin Winkelmann (Ger)            74 
12 Daniel Feldner/Enrico Zinn (Ger)              61 
13 Michael Berling/Jesper Damgaard (Den)         40 
14 Oliver Mattmann/Stefan Schär (Swi)            30 
15 Sascha Richter/Heiko Szonn (Ger)              24 
16 Frank Vorrath/René Vogeler (Ger)              10

Results courtesy of the Union International des Velodromes