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41st Six Days of Munich - 6D

Germany, November 11-16, 2004

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Day 6 - November 16

McGrory and Gilmore take last gasp win

By Birke Ulrich in Munich

2004 winners Gilmore/McGrory
Photo ©: Birke Ulrich
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After trailing leaders Robert Slippens/Danny Stam by 8 points coming into the final night of the Munich Six Days, Scott McGrory and Matthew Gilmore managed to make up the deficit to clinch the victory over the Dutch pair, with Germans Andreas Kappes/Andreas Beikirch finishing third.

It was a hard fight between McGrory/Gilmore, Slippens/Stam and Kappes/Beikirch. By the last 20 laps of the final madison, there were only fo

ur points separating the first three teams. But in the end, McGrory/Gilmore pulled ahead through superior sprinting, and Slippens/Stam had to be content with second.

Action from the velodrome
Photo ©: Birke Ulrich
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On the final night, the stadium was filled with enthusiastic people which made the atmosphere great. There were some shows between the races: the official Six Days Band as well as the American tap dancer Dizzy Tappes, who demonstrated how fast he could move his feet. Once again the acrobat La Spina showed impressive "acts on air" on her vertical drapery. The athletes used these breaks to warm up themselves and the audience as well with Gerd Dörich starting several "La Olas".

The riders were pushed today. Pushed by the cheering supporters and pushed by the Six Days Band playing music for all the finishes. It was a big difference to the quiet days with an empty stadium, said Gerd Dörich. Once again he had bad luck. Last year he crashed in the final. This year his teammate Frank Kowatschitsch had an accident on the first day and got bruised his ribs, which explains their last place on the classement.

In the other events, Robert Bartko (Ger) and Franco Marvulli (Swi) won the lap record race, their time was not to be beaten. Bruno Risi (Swi) was the Derny race winner of today. But the Derny cup went to McGrory/Gilmore, who also won the overall Six Day ranking.

Bye bye Fielder

Jens Fiedler in tears
Photo ©: Birke Ulrich
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How can you get a standing ovation? Just stop on the middle of a lap and stay still on your bike for over 3'30 as René Wolff (Ger) and Chris Hoy (GBr) did. The audience was amazed. René Wolff had said prior to the event that he wanted to win the Sprint Grand Prix...and he did it.

It was also Jens Fiedler's last race in Munich. He got all the glory that a sprint star should get. There was an official speech held for him, but he was not really able to speak himself. Fiedler couldn't find words and his eyes filled with tears. Finally when good old Franky was singing "I did it my way" and Fiedler was doing two extra laps, there were tears everywhere. His competitors took a bow when he passed them by.

Photography

Images by Birke Ulrich/www.alakarte.de (Click here for a thumbnail photo gallery)

Results

Professionals

Final standings after night 6
 
1 Scott McGrory/Matthew Gilmore (Aus/Bel)        311 pts
2 Robert Slippens/Danny Stam (Ned)               300
 
1 lap behind
 
3 Andreas Kappes/Andreas Beikirch (Ger)          308
4 Bruno Risi/Kurt Betschart (Swi)                225
 
8 laps behind
 
5 Robert Bartko/Franco Marvulli (Ger/Swi)        214
 
11 laps behind
 
6 Lars Teutenberg/Christian Lademann (Ger)       103
 
16 laps behind
 
7 Marco Villa/Thorsten Rund (Ita/Ger)            112
 
19 laps behind
 
8 Luke Roberts/Jimmi Madsen (Aus/Den)             82
 
26 laps behind
 
9 Leif Lampater/Alexander Aeschbach (Ger/Swi)     87
 
29 laps behind
 
10 Franz Stocher/Christian Grasmann (Aut/Ger)     63
 
32 laps behind
 
11 Sebastian Löffler/Andreas Müller (Ger)         71
 
33 laps behind
 
12 Wouter van Mechelen/Iljo Keisse (Bel)         129
 
39 laps behind
 
13 Mikhail Ignatiev/Alexei Markov (Rus)           36
14 Ronny Lauke/Eric Weißpfennig (Ger)             25 

Sprinters

Final standings after night 6

1 René Wolff (Ger)
2 Chris Hoy (GBr)
3 Jens Fiedler (Ger)
4 Barry Forde (Bar)
5 Arnaud Tournant (Fra)
6 Stefan Nimke (Ger)

U23 Franziskaner Rad-Open

Final standings after night 6
 
1 Michael Berling/Axel Rasmussen (Den)            94 pts
2 Kenny De Ketele/Steve Schets (Bel)              90
3 Marc Hester/Michael Mřrkřv (Den)                88
4 Henning Bommel/Robert Bengsch (Ger)             80
5 Gert-Jan Jonkmann/Wim Stroetinga (Ned)          76
6 Patrick Betz/Daniel Schlegel (Ger)              52
7 Jan Eric Schwarzer/Markus Reich (Ger)           42
8 Christoph Meschenmoser/David Heine (Ger)        40
9 René Schibl/Benjamin Baumgartner (Swi)          22
10 Karl Christian König/Robert Kriegs (Ger)       27
11 Sebastian Frey/Nicolai Raasch (Ger)            27
12 Pavel Subrt/Marek Mixa (Cze)                   26
13 Georg Tazreiter (Aut)/Lubor Kosicka (Cze)       6
14 Cédric Ager/Nicolas Rousseau (Fra)              6
15 Kevin Sluimer/Patrick Kos (Ned)                 6