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67th Zesdaagse Vlaanderen - Gent - 6D
Gent, Belgium, November 20-25, 2007
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Day 1 - November 20
Exciting racing greets strong crowd for day one in 't Kuipke'
By Brecht Decaluwé in Gent
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After the unveiling of a memorial plaque at the entrance of the race track building 't Kuipke' for Spanish rider, Isaac Gálvez Lopez, who tragically passed away after a fall during the 2006 edition of the Gent six day, riders fronted up to the start line to begin the 67th running of the event. Big crowds turned out to witness some spectacular racing on the lightning fast track in Gent. Before the event, British duo Cavendish and Wiggins were announced as a new top team that would attempt to unseat more established riders the caliber of Keisse and Bartko, world champions Risi and Marvulli and the Dutch tandem of Slippens and Stam.
During the points race the competition was tight with no team standing head and shoulders above the rest. The elimination was a different story with the world champions, Risi-Marvulli taking the win ahead of their Dutch rivals Slippens-Stam. The Wiggins and Cavendish duo placed down in fifth position, claiming the same position in the GC. Strong man, Dimitri De Fauw was the big favorite for the flying lap as he was attempting to break the track record of 8.23" set back in 2002 by Jean-Pierre Van Zyl. The Belgian couldn't live up to the expectations though as his lap time of 8'82" was eventually beaten by Franco Marvulli who clocked 8'80". Going into the Madison the lead in the GC was for world champions Risi and Marvulli with 38 points, ahead of Keisse and Bartko with 31 points; Wiggins and Cavendish were in fifth position with 10 points.
The 40 minutes plus ten laps Madison would be the event that made the real difference on the GC. The experienced top teams didn't panic and four teams stayed in the same lap. The Dutch duo Stam and Slippens won the event ahead of Risi and Marvulli, with Keisse and Bartko and Beikirch and Mohs finishing in the same lap. The biggest upset came from the British who lost seven laps on the leaders, losing every chance on the overall win in Gent.
The first derny race was an exciting race in which Bradley Wiggins was riding in last position - led out by Joop Zijlaard - but stormed past everyone to the lead with only five laps to go. The Brit was enthusiastically supported by the Gent crowds when battling with Danny Stam for the lead, but it was Kenny De Ketele who timed his attack to perfection. The Belgian managed to speed up and go past Wiggins and Stam in the penultimate lap to claim the win.
In the elimination Iljo Keisse was the first to go out, but since not much damage was done since the other top teams went out pretty fast as well. German Erik Mohs beat Aeschbach in the final sprint.
The second derny race was led out by Australian Luke Roberts, but Andreas Muller was the first to gain a big gap on the group, while Robert Bartko chose to stay off the back. With 19 laps to go Dimitri De Fauw took over the command with Roberts on his wheel. The Belgian kept the lead despite attacks from Beikirch and Bartko. With five laps to go Beikirch successfully accelerated away from the group and was looking good to be able to hold off compatriot Robert Bartko. It all came down to inches and eventually it was Bartko - led out by Michel Vaarten - who took the win.
The 500m time trial was taken out by the Iljo Keisse and Robert Bartko, who remain among the favorites for the overall victory. With five teams still on the same lap and only six points separating the first and second placed teams, the event remains wide open.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Luc Claessen/www.ctm-images.com
- Franco Marvulli.
- Keisse and Bartko in full sling.
- Lazar and Kankovsky finished ninth in the madison.
- Peter Kennaugh and Adam Blythe of the Great Britain team .
- The sprint of the madison in full swing.
- The mayor of Gent starts the nights racing.
- A new safety fence has been constructed around the track.
- Risi and Marvulli signing on.
- Robert Bartko.
- Robert Slippens.
- 3 - 2 - 1 and pull the trigger , dignitaries looking a little afraid of the start gun.
- The 6-days bell.
- Wiggins and Cavendish during the madison.
- Bartko and Keisse are favourites to take out the event.
- Beikirch and Mohs.
- Cocquit and De Neef.
- Danny Stam.
- Dimi De Fauw.
Results
Team elimination 1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 15 pts 2 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 10 3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Chocolade Jacques 8 4 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 6 5 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 4 6 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 2 7 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 8 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 9 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 10 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 11 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 12 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 13 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS Points race 1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Chocolade Jacques 13 pts 2 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 13 3 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 13 4 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 6 5 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 4 6 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 4 7 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 3 8 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 3 9 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 2 10 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 2 11 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 2 12 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 1 13 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS Lap record 1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 0.08.80 2 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 0.08.82 3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Chocolade Jacques 0.08.84 4 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 5 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 0.08.92 6 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 0.08.96 7 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 8 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 0.08.97 9 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 0.08.98 10 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 0.09.01 11 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 0.09.06 12 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 0.09.45 13 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 0.09.86 Madison 1 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 15 pts 2 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 10 3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Chocolade Jacques 8 4 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 6 One lap behind 5 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 4 pts 6 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 2 Two laps behind 7 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK Three laps behind 8 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 9 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel Four laps behind 10 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 11 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas Seven laps behind 12 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator Nine laps behind 13 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen Derny 1 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 5 pts 2 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 4 3 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 3 4 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 2 5 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 1 6 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas Elimination 1 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 15 pts 2 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 10 3 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 8 4 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 6 5 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 4 6 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 2 7 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 8 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 9 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 10 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 11 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 12 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 13 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques Derny 1 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 5 pts 2 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 4 3 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 3 4 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 2 5 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 1 6 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 500m Timetrial 1 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 15 pts 2 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 10 3 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 8 4 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 6 5 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 4 6 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 2 7 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 8 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 9 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 10 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 11 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 12 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 13 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS Supersprint 1 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 15 pts 2 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 10 3 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 8 4 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 6 5 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 4 6 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 2 7 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 8 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 9 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 10 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 11 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 12 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 13 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator Derny 1 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 10 pts 2 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 8 3 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 6 4 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 4 5 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 2 6 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Scratch race 1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 23 pts 2 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 10 3 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 6 4 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 4 5 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 2 6 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 7 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 8 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 9 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 10 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 11 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 12 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 13 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Madison 1 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 15 pts 2 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 10 3 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 8 4 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 6 5 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 4 6 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 2 7 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 8 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 9 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 10 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 11 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 12 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 13 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen Standings after day 1 1 Bruno Risi / Franco Marvulli (Swi) Tartuffe-Labo Van Vooren 87 pts 2 Iljo Keisse / Robert Bartko (Bel/Ger) Chocolade Jacques 81 3 Danny Stam / Robert Slippens (Ned) VDK 50 4 Andreas Beikirch / Erik Mohs (Ger) Callant verzekeringen – Q8 45 5 Kenny De Ketele / Marco Villa (Bel/Ita) Capri-Sonne 40 One lap down 6 Luke Roberts / Marc Hester (Aus/Den) RDM - JDK 20 7 Tim Mertens / Andreas Muller (Bel/Ger) Passage Fitness First 20 Two laps down 8 Dimitri De Fauw / Alexander Aeschbach (Bel/Swi) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf 51 9 Petr Lazar / Alois Kankovsky (Cze) Cécémel 18 Five laps down 10 Nicky Cocquyt / Steven Deneef (Bel) AVS 7 Six laps down 11 Wim Stroetinga / Matthé Pronk (Ned) Geka kaas 8 Ten laps down 12 Bradley Wiggins / Mark Cavendish (GBr) Mercator 22 Twelve laps down 13 Steve Schets / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) Topsport Vlaanderen 16 UIV Cup 1 Peter Kennaugh / Adam Blythe (GBr) 13 pts 2 Davy Tuytens / Tosh Van der Sande (Bel) 11 3 Jesper Mørkøv / Christian Ranneries (Den) 2 4 Tristan Marquet / René Schibli (Swi) 1 5 Pavel Subrt / Marek Mixa (Cze) One lap behind 6 Guy East / Austin Carroll (USA) 4 7 Dave Mertens / Walt De Winter (Bel) 2 Two laps behind 8 Maarten Vlasselaar / Gert Jan Van Immerseel (Bel) 9 David Wiswell / Jackie Simes (USA) Three laps behind 10 Kieran De Fauw / Brian Ligneel (Bel) Four laps behind 11 Glen Foubert / Thomas Sprengers (Bel) 12 Gerd Steijn / Harm Steijn (Ned)
