Progress ReportAhead of the race four pairs were favoured: The Alp express, Risi - Betchard, Villa - Martinello, and the two Danish pairs Jens Veggerby - Jimmi Madsen, and Rolf Sorensen-Michael Sandstad, even if Sorensen is riding his one and only 6 days race in this spring before continuing his built up for the spring classics.Betchard fell ill on the first night, and the new pair, Risi - Walzer, will hardly be in contention for first. On the second night a 100 minutes race strangled Sandstad who had to be neutralized after one hour to recover, and the pair lost five rounds and could hardly be trusted to stage a serious challenge for victory so now it is a fight between Marco Villa/Silvio Martinello and Veggerby/Madsen. After Day 21. Veggerby/Madsen, Denmark 165 points 2. Martinello/Villa, Italy 152 at 1 lap 3. Risi/Walzer, Swi/Ger 98 4. Clark/Gilmore, Australia 89 at 2 laps 5. Piil/Braikia, Denmark 169 at 3 laps 6. Kappes/Dorich, Germany at 4 laps 7. Sorensen/Sandstad, Denmark 99 at 31 laps Archambaud - Grandjean, F are last, after the unusually fast race on Sunday. kindly sent by Svend Novrup Copenhagen 6 days after day 4:It is obvious that the only pairs in contention for victory are Jens Veggerby - Jimmi Madsen and Silvio Martinello - Marco Villa which will hopefully fight it out in an intriguing final on Wednesday. So much more so as it is the last time the Copenhagen 6 days is staged in "Forum", the exhibition center in the heart of Copenhagen where the Danish 6 days racing started in November 1934, the first winners being Germans Willy Funda - Hans Pützfeld. From next year the Copenhagen indoor racing will take place on a new cirquit in Ballerup some 20 kilometers from the center -- it will never be the same atmosphere in which people from the Copenhagen night life open a merry evening with the 6 days racing.While waiting for the final the story of the newspapers is that the 23 year old and very talented Dane, Jacob Piil, is moving to Gent which is a more central place for 6 days racing but moreover he has signed a professional contract with the team RDM Asfra. The positions with two days to go:1. Veggerby - Madsen, DK 238 2. Martinello - Villa, I 232 at 1 lap 3. Clark - Gilmore, AUS 152 4. Risi - Walzer, CH/GER 145 at 3 laps 5. Kappes - Dörich, GER 133 at 4 laps 6. Sørensen - Sandstød, DK 168 at 5 laps 7. Piil - Barikia, DK 231 12 pairs are still in the race, the last at - 36 laps. Final Night - Danny Clark says goodbye to CopenhagenSvend Novrup reports from Denmark:Veggerby - Madsen win in Copenhagen -- Clark's good-bye to Copenhagen Going into the last few sprints of the Copenhagen 6 days Martinello - Villa seemed to be in complete control. They had neutralised all tries from Veggerby - Madsen, driving in the legendary Danish flagged tricot bearing no 7, to break away. The last hopes of the Danes seemed to be to take more points than the Italians who are sprint experts so this did not seem likely. But when the Italians fell behind in the field after winning the first sprint ahead of the Danes, Veggerby - Madsen caught them by surprise and continued. A classic finish followed with Veggerby - Madsen struggling on one side and the field led by Martinello - Villa on the other. If the Danish pair could stay clear for the remaining 40 rounds they would win by one single point, but they did better. In the end they caught up a little more than 10 rounds to go and won the last 6 days race in the Copenhagen "Forum" by one lap. Next year the race will take place in Ballerup some 20 kilometers away from the center where a velodrome will be built. Ahead of the last hour's racing, Australian Danny Clark and the Copenhagen cycle enthusiasts told each other a long and tearful good-bye as this was the last race of the popular Australian in Denmark. A local pop singer, Peter Belli, called for Clark and together they sang a special version of Frank Sinatra's My Way. Clark in fact has a voice which could offer him another career in show-biz!
Final Results1. Veggerby - Madsen 365 p - 1 lap 2. Martinallo - Villa 370 p 3. Clark - Gilmore 255 p 4. Risi - Walzer 216 p - 3 laps 5. Kappes - Dörich 232 p - 4 laps 6. Sørensen - Sandstød 239 p - 5 laps 7. Piil - Braikia 313 p |