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Introduction to Track Racing - What's a Wheelrace? - Introduction to Six Day racing - UCI codes
66th Zesdaagse Van Vlaanderen-Gent - 6D
Belgium, November 21-26, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Previous Day Next Day
Day 2 - November 22
Stam and Schep take over the lead
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On night two at the 'Kuipke', the stands were packed, the music louder and the racing more aggressive. From the first lap, leaders Keisse and Bartko were on top of their game, taking second in the points race and second in the flying lap. However, the pair were heavily marked in the first Madison of the night, and when Stam and Schep, and then Marvulli/Aeschbach took a lap, they did not respond. The Spanish world champions Galvez and Llaneras botched an exchange and went down together, disrupting the rhythm of the event, but were able to rejoin. With that extra bit of adrenaline, the pair got up onto the zero round and held on for third behind Stam/Schep and Marvulli/Aeschbach. Despite Keisse and Bartko's best efforts, they could not get back the lap.
In the second Madison of the night, Marvulli/Aeschbach lost their lap, while the Keisse, Risi, Stam and Galvez teams stayed on the zero round, giving Stam the leg up coming into night three. Thursday nights are party nights for this university town, and the tickets have sold out for the race. The crazier the fans, the more aggressive the racing, so the third evening should be full of action.
How it unfolded
Under 25 heats
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Heat one saw the German team of Arends and Mohs take another lap out of the field and two of the points sprints. The Dutch team of Pieters and Kreder had a good night, gaining six points towards qualification for this weekend's finals. Sprint leaders Burke and Bellis (GBr) had a solid night, maintaining their second place overall, and gaining five points.
The second heat was fast and furious, and again it was the Germans who dominated the race. Kalz and Kluge drew first blood in the opening sprint, and went on to put another lap into the field. Their fortunes almost went awry when Kluge got tangled up with another rider on the home stretch, but quick thinking by his partner kept the team on the same lap. The wreck allowed the Dutch team Lighthart and Vermeulen to gain an advantage on points, with Kalz and Kluge three laps up. The Czech team of Subrt and Mixa remain in second place, two laps down.
Points race
The points race in a six-day is a bit different from the normal points race. Because the six-day is a two man event, the points race begins with one rider from each team for the first half, then midway through the race, the riders exchange places. The points race is normally a steady state affair on the early nights, with riders going all out for the sprints, but staying all together in between, perhaps because it's considered bad form to try to attack during the warm-up event. This is one race where the smaller teams stand a chance to gain some points. The first sprint was won by De Ketele, followed by De Fauw and Keisse taking the final sprint of his half, not at all slowed down by the unending strains of 'Dancing Queen'. After the exchange, Van Mechelen, Bartko and Aeschbach took the final three sprints.
Team Elimination (Ploegafvalling)
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This race is an interesting combination Madison and Miss & Out (also known as devil's race, or elimination) that sounds more chaotic than it really is. The last rider on each sprint is eliminated until there are only two riders left on the track. The final two in tonight's event were Lampater and Stam. Stam led the sprint out from turn one, and Lampater came over the top out of the last turn, just barely edging out Stam by a tire's width.
Madison
After the first incident-free night, tonight's opening Madison saw the first crash of the Gent six-day. Isaac Galvez and Juan Llaneras were heading in for an exchange when a touch of wheel sent the pair sprawling down the track in turn one. Both were able to get back onto their machines, and after a break and a chance to change out of their friction-burned clothes, they were allowed to rejoin the race on the same lap. The race was won by Marvulli/Aeschbach who, along with Stam/Schep and Galvez/ Llaneras, took a lap out of the rest.
Cyclingnews caught up with Franco Marvulli before the start of tonight's race, as he was trying to get some aspirin from the medics. Marvulli strained a muscle in his back the previous night, but was confident the minor injury wouldn't slow him down, and said, "No problems, it's just a little thing - I'll be a-OK!" His prediction certainly held true, and he had no troubles taking the win.
Intermission
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The town of Gent will host the finish of stage 2 of the 2007 Tour de France, and the finish line will be just meters away from the 'Kuipke' velodrome. Jean-Marie Leblanc was on hand to promote the stage finish, along with Eddy Merckx, who presented Leblanc with a custom Merckx commuter bike. Although Leblanc has handed over the reigns of the Tour de France organization to Christian Prudhomme, he is still promoting the race with visits like this one to host towns.
An interesting aside, Iljo Keisse's family owns a bar (or café as they are called in Gent) not far from the velodrome. All of Gent is laced with bicycle paths, all of which are emblazoned with the silhouette of a bicycle, normally with typical commuter-type flat bars. Keisse's father convinced the city to paint a special silhouette with racing bars on the path outside of their café, so now they have the only 'racing path' in town!
Madison #2
Once again, the Spanish world champions found their legs for the last Madison of the evening, and were quick to take the lap. Risi and Lampater were next to gain the lap with Stam and Schep hot on their heels. By the final 15 laps, Galvez/Llaneras, Stam/Schep and Risi/Lampater were on the zero round, threatening the lead of Keisse and Bartko. But a well-timed attack by Iljo Keisse successfully brought the team back into the zero round, setting up a four-way battle for the lead. Once that round was sealed, the pack was not letting anyone else escape, and coming into the final sprint, it was Keisse once again battling Risi for the line in a bike throw that was too close to call until the camera showed Risi ahead by a tire.
Supersprint, Scratch, and Derny final
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This event is similar to the team elimination, where riders can take exchanges with their partners, and are racing to avoid being eliminated by being in last place in the sprints. In this event, only seven teams are eliminated, making the final sprint a bunch sprint of six. These events aren't taken as seriously by the main overall contenders, and are an opportunity for other teams to get a chance to win and bask in the glory of the cheering crowd. Risi, Keisse, Marvulli and Galvez/Llaneras were the first out, and went back to their cubbies to take a rest. The rest of the sprints were more hotly contested, at least at the back of the bunch, until the six survivors were the only ones left on the track. In the final sprint, de Ketele soundly took the win.
In the scratch race, the riders who were not participating in the derny final were the ones to scrabble for the loose points in this short race. The derny final followed, and derny superstar Joop Zijlaard, father in law of world and Olympic champion Leontin Zijlaard, led Bruno Risi to victory. It's not an exaggeration to call the man a superstar, as the crowd went crazy every time Zijlaard led his rider over the top of the pack. In this part of the world, he's perhaps more popular than the cyclists!
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Luc Claessen/www.ctm-images.com
- Madison action
- World champs in action
- Beikirch and Frey roll along
- Risi drives the pace
- De Fauw and van Mechelen did not meet their goal of breaking the track record - yet!
- The winners of the hot lap are all business
- De Ketele and Schets look serious
- Deneef and Depoortere
- Keisse is ready for action
- Depoortere looks up
- Juan Llaneras is very serious
- Keisse isn't faking he's really working hard.
- Keisse and Bartko roll out
- The hometown favorites Keisse and Bartko
- Leblanc and Merckx were on hand for the festivities
- Leblanc on his new ride having fun!
- Leblanc is clearly happy with the gift.
- Lief Lampater is satisfied with his win
- Llaneras and Galvez
- Marc Hester gets ready to go.
- Macro Villa in the lead with his usual dead-pan expression
- Marvulli leads
- Aeschbach and Marvulli roll along
- Matthe Pronk shows the strain
- Peter Schep still fresh.
- Schep at full speed
- Risi and Lampater get introduced
- Lampater and Risi won the team elimination
- The scene at 'Kuipke'
- Stam and Lampater going at it with full gas
- Stam and Schep taking it easy
- Schep and Stam in the lead
- Villa and Hester are introduced
Images by Emory Ball/Cyclingnews.com
- Jackie Simes (USA) awaits his turn
- The pack comes out of turn one.
- Arends and Mohs exchange
- Toekomst-zesdaagse heat 1
- The heat two points leaders
- Lizarraga/Berasarte make a change
- Kevin Suhr (USA)
- Leighthart/Vermeulen (Ned)
- Bally/Menzi (Swi)
- Clere/Jeanin (Fra)
- Kalz and Kluge (Ger)
- Heading in for the final sprint
- Kevin Suhr (USA)
- The leaders took a tumble during the final 5 laps but quick thinking by the teammate saved the day.
- De Ketele and Schets during the Ploegafvalling
- Lampater keeps an eye on Stam going into the final lap
- Stam leads out the sprint
- But Lampater gets in by a tire and is really pleased with the victory
- Beikirch throws in Frey during their escape
- Frey tosses Beikirch and the effort is showing
- Keisse sizes up the situation
- Bartko keeps an eye on the action
- Jean Marie LeBlanc awaits his introduction
- LeBlanc is like a kid again - bicycles will do that to a man.
- Leblanc and Merckx have a chat
- Merckx and LeBlanc in conversation
Results
Points race
1 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel) 13 pts
2 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 10
3 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger) 8
4 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 7
5 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 7
6 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 5
7 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 4
8 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 3
9 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo) 3
10 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned) 2
11 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) 2
12 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den) 2
13 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger)
Team Elimination
1 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 15 pts
2 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 10
3 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 8
4 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 6
5 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 4
6 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo) 2
7 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi)
8 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
9 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel)
10 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa)
11 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel)
12 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger)
13 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den)
Flying lap
1 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel) 0.08.72 (68.807 km/h)
2 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 0.08.89
3 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 0.09.01
4 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo) 0.09.03
5 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 0.09.06
6 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger)
7 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 0.09.12
8 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den) 0.09.14
9 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 0.09.24
10 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) 0.09.26
11 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned) 0.09.54
12 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger) 0.09.56
13 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 0.09.57
Madison (40 minutes + 10 laps)
1 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 15 pts
2 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 10
3 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 8
One lap down
4 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 4
5 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 2
6 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den)
7 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger)
Two laps down
8 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger)
Three laps down
9 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel)
10 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel)
11 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel)
Four laps down
12 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
13 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo)
Derny heat 1
1 Dimitri DeFauw (Zijlaard)
2 Steve Schets (Vaarten)
3 Steven DeNeef (Van Uytfange)
4 Christian Grasmann (Durst)
5 Jozef Zabka (Walrave)
6 Marc Hester (Huybrechts)
Miss & Out
1 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 15 pts
2 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 10
3 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 8
4 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 6
5 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) 4
6 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger) 2
7 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned)
8 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel)
9 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger)
10 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo)
11 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
12 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den)
13 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa)
Derny heat 2
1 Bruno Risi (Zijlaard)
2 Robert Bartko (Vaarten)
3 Peter Schep (Walrave)
4 Juan Llaneras (Van Uytfange)
5 Franco Marvulli (Huybrechts)
6 Andreas Beirkirch (Durst)
500m Time Trial
1 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel) 0.28.04
2 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 0.28.05
3 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 0.28.55
4 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 0.29.27
5 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 0.29.30
6 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 0.29.64
7 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den) 0.29.71
8 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger) 0.30.05
9 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 0.30.08
10 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo) 0.30.67
11 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) 0.30.74
12 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned) 0.31.31
13 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 0.31.76
Madison (30 minutes + 10 laps)
1 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 15 pts
2 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 10
3 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 8
4 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 6
5 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 4
One lap down
6 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 2 pts
7 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger)
8 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den)
Two laps down
9 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel)
10 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel)
11 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo)
12 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
13 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel)
Supersprint (7 sprint elimination)
1 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 15 pts
2 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned) 10
3 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger) 8
4 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den) 6
5 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) 4
6 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 2
7 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo)
8 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned)
9 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel)
10 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa)
11 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi)
12 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger)
13 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger)
Scratch
1 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 15 pts
2 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 10
3 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 8
4 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo) 6
5 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel) 4
6 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 2
7 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger)
8 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel)
9 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den)
10 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel)
11 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger)
12 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger)
13 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned)
Derny final
1 Bruno Risi (Zijlaard)
2 Dimitri de Fauw (Durst)
3 Peter Schep (Walrave)
4 Robert Bartko (Vaarten)
5 Steve Schets (Huybrechts)
6 DeNeef (Van Uytfange)
U25 heat 1
1 Michael Arends/ Erik Mohs (Ger) 10 pts
One lap down
2 Niels Peters/ Denis Kreder (Ned) 6
3 Dave Mertens/ Leys Birger (Bel) 5
4 Steven Burke/ John Bellis (GBr) 5
5 Beni Baumgartner/ Tobias Baumgartner (Swi) 5
6 Jackie Simes/ Taylor Brown (USA) 2
7 Jesper Morkov/ Christian Ranneries (Den)
Three laps down
8 Rene Schibli/ Patrick Betz (Swi/Ger)
U25 heat 2
1 Marcel Katz/ Roger Kluge (Ger) 5 pts
One lap down
2 Pim Lighthart/ Jeff Vermeulen (Ned) 10 pts
3 Pavel Subrt/ Marek Mixa (Cze) 8
4 Maxime Bally/ Bruno Menzi (Swi) 4
5 Anzizar Lizarraga/ Blazquez Berasarte (Esp) 2
6 Emilien Clere/ Michael Jeanin (Fra) 2
7 Thomas Murray/ Peter Williams (GBr) 2
8 Kevin Suhr/ Ryan Luttrell (USA)
Two laps down
9 Matthias Venderhauwaert/ Jurgen Beeckman (Bel)
Standings
1 Danny Stam/ Peter Schep (Ned) 101 pts
One lap down
2 Iljo Keisse/ Rober Bartko (Bel/Ger) 150 pts
3 Bruno Risi/ Leif Lampater (Swi/Ger) 118
4 Isaac Galvez/Juan Llaneras (Spa) 52
Two laps down
5 Franco Marvulli/ Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) 116 pts
Four laps down
6 Andreas Muller/ Christian Grasmann (Ger) 42 pts
Five laps down
7 Andreas Beikirch/ Sebastian Frey (Ger) 40 pts
8 Marco Villa/ Marc Hester (Ita/Den) 33
10 laps down
9 Dimitri De Fauw/ Wouter van Mechelen (Bel) 128 pts
11 laps down
10 Kenny de Ketele/ Steve Schets (Bel) 93 pts
11 Steven DeNeef/ Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) 18
13 laps down
12 Martin Liska/ Jozef Zabka (Slo) 23 pts
13 Matthe Pronk/ Aart Vierhouten (Ned) 16
U25 Standings after night two
Heat 1
1 Michael Arends/ Erik Mohs (Ger) 21 pts
Three laps down
2 Steven Burke/ John Bellis (GBr) 18 pts
3 Jesper Morkov/ Christian Ranneries (Den)
Four laps down
4 Niels Peters/ Denis Kreder (Ned) 11 pts
5 Beni Baumgartner/ Tobias Baumgartner (Swi) 7
6 Rene Schibli/ Patrick Betz (Swi/Ger) 2
Five laps down
7 Dave Mertens/ Leys Birger (Bel) 5 pts
8 Jackie Simes/ Taylor Brown (USA) 2
Heat 2
1 Marcel Katz/ Roger Kluge (Ger) 11 pts
Two laps down
2 Pavel Subrt/ Marek Mixa (Cze) 15 pts
Three laps down
3 Pim Lighthart/ Jeff Vermeulen (Ned) 19 pts
4 Maxime Bally/ Bruno Menzi (Swi) 8
5 Anzizar Lizarraga/ Blazquez Berasarte (Esp) 5
6 Emilien Clere/ Michael Jeanin (Fra) 4
7 Thomas Murray/ Peter Williams (GBr) 4
8 Kevin Suhr/ Ryan Luttrell (USA)
Four laps down
9 Matthias Venderhauwaert/ Jurgen Beeckman (Bel)
