68th Zesdaagse Vlaanderen - 6D1

Gent, Belgium, November 18-23, 2008

Main Page Results Overall standings Next Day

Day 1 - November 18:

Keisse, Bartko lead after wild first night

By Bjorn Haake in Gent, Belgium

Hometown hero and defending champion Iljo Keisse, r, prepares to start the first day of racing
Photo ©: Cyclingnews

Local hero Iljo Keisse and German partner Robert Bartko lead the Gent Six Day race after the first night with 82 points. Erik Zabel and Leif Lampater are second with 67 points. The only other team equal on laps is the Belgian-German duo of Kenny de Ketele and Andreas Beikirch, with 43 points.

Austin Carroll and East Guy are leading the UIV cup of the U23 category with five points over Belgians Tosh Van der Sande and Stijn Steels.

Getting to the points

The Gent Six Days started with a 60-lap points race, with Beijing Olympic Games 4x100 metre relay silver medallist Kim Gevaert firing the start gone. The favourites made their moves, but eventually all teams were equal on laps.

Kenny de Ketele and Andreas Beikirch took the most points during the sprints and the overall lead, ahead of Nicky Cocquyt and Ingmar Depoortere. Erik Zabel and Leif Lampater were already in third, while top favourites Keisse and Bartko ranked fifth.

Next up was the teams' elimination races - every five laps, the last team to cross the line had to leave the competition. It clearly showed who had the experience.

Risi and Aeschenbach were hanging at the back, but each time the spectators thought they were out they managed to sneak by the last rider just before the line. But when it came to four teams, the Swiss tactic didn't work anymore and only Zabel/Lampater, Keisse/Bartko and Jörgensen/Madsen were left.

The Danish pair was the first to drop out, setting up an exciting sprint between local hero Keisse and Lampater. Lampater managed to come around in the final metres to take the victory.

Eight painful seconds

The one-lap time trial was a painful affair for the riders. Each team used one pacemaker to bring the duo up to speed, then a hand-sling change and the other rider have his all for one lap. Fortunately in Gent that means only 160 metres - and for the winners, that translated to less than nine seconds.

It was the final pair to race, Keisse and Bartko, to set the best time. The crowd pushed 'their' rider, Keisse, to win 8.82 seconds, nine hundredths of a second faster than De Fau and De Neef.

The 40-minute plus 10 lap race was a close sprint between Keisse and De Ketele, but Lampater managed to blow past them with a last ditch effort to take his second win of the night.

When big is good

Germany's Erik Zabel
Photo ©: Cyclingnews

The Derny races offered a nice draft for the riders. It was only fitting that in the first of two rides the biggest pacemaker won and de Ketele happened to be behind him. Zabel prevailed in the second race, notably with the same pacemaker who had won the first race - Joop Zijlaard.

Another elimination race took place in-between the two derny races. Keisse was not happy that he was the first rider named to have to go out, pointing to another rider, which he thought he had beaten. Lampater tried to console Keisse, only to be left behind in the next sprint.

The finish was dramatic as well, with Jörgensen and De Fauw left over. De Fauw slipped down the steep embankment, giving the victory to the Dane.

Home crowd help

Keisse and Bartko were the final pair to tackle the 500m time trial. The Gent crowd, clearly not tired by midnight's rapid approach, went nuts and pushed the duo to another time trial victory. The pair was the only to better the 28-second mark, with Jörgensen/Madsen in second and Van Bon/Ligthart in third.

Zabel took out the final derny race of the night, suspiciously once again with Zijlaard. He beat De Ketele and Bartko.

The scratch race was won by De Fauw and De Neef, while the final points race went in an exciting finale to Keisse/Bartko.

Carroll and East head the UIV Cup

The night didn't quite go according to the United States of America pair of Carroll and East, but they eventually prevailed. Carrol told Cyclingnews what went wrong.

"It is really tight on such a short track," he said. "It is different than a 200 or 250. We missed a few handovers, too."

The pair had only a slim three-point margin and in the final lap they already looked beaten. But with a last-second effort, they won the race and took the yellow jersey of the leader for the UIV Cup.

A bad crash involving Ligneel and Lava marred the race. Ligneel was taken out on a stretcher and sent to hospital.

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Cyclingnews

Americans Guy East and Austin Carroll lead the U23 Gent leg of the UIV Talents Cup event after the first day of racing
Belgians Stijn Steels and Tosh Van De Sande pictured with the points jerseys won during the first day of racing in the U23 UIV Talents Cup at Gent
Danes Jens-Erik Madsen and Casper Jörgensen signing in
Andreas Beikirch and Kenny De Ketele signing in during the first day
Dutchmen Leon Van Bon and Pim Ligthart signing in while Patrick Sercu observes over their shoulders
Andreas Muller (Ger) and Tim Mertens (Bel) add their names to the sign-in board
Italians Fabio Masotti and Angelo Ciccone signing in prior to the first day of racing at Gent
Marc Hester (Den) signs in under the watchful eye of Patrick Sercu
Germans Erik Zabel and Leif Lampater are one of the teams favored to win at Gent
Bruno Risi (Sui) is a three-time winner at Gent
Kim Gevaert (in all black) joined Bruno Risi at the sign-in. Risi's partner Alexander Aeschbach is on the left. Gevaert won silver t the Beijing Olympics in the 4x100m relay.
Defending champions Robert Bartko (l) and Iljo Keisse (r) signing in on the first day of competition
Riders on the start line
The starting pistols are loud!
Erik Zabel (Ger)
Belgians Dimitri De Fauw and Steven Deneef are quite relaxed prior to the start of racing
Peter Schep (Ned) signs in
Iljo Keisse (r) and Dimitri De Fauw (c) at the start of the first day at Gent

Images by Bjorn Haake/Cyclingnews.com

Austin Carroll won the U23 race, together with his partner Guy East, but it was very close.
The bell lap has Patrick Sercu's name engraved. Sercu functions as the race director.
Casper Jögensen is delighted to be able to start the Gent Six Days soon.
Leon van Bon is taking a timeout from his Asian adventures to race near his home country Netherlands.
Australian Luke Roberts was also happy to race on the short 160m track in Gent.
Erik Zabel checks out the spectators who gave the German lots of applause for his final Gent appearance.
Zabel shadows Keisse closely in the early parts of the race.
Bruno Risi in turn didn't leave Zabel out of sight. Risi is always good for the win, as he recently proved in Munich.
Zabel checks out how Lampater is doing towards the end of the team elimination
Lampater leads Keisse in the team elimination. Keisse opened the attack, but Lampater struck back.
Lampater exhausted after his sprint against Keisse.
Track racing is a fast sport
Keisse/Bartko won the one-lap time trial.
The Derny races are loud but spectacular to watch.
Pacemaker Zijlaard Joop was the winner of all three derny races of the evening. He provided good draft.
Australian Luke Roberts tries to stay on the wheel of his derny-man.
Robert Bartko rounds the velodrome behind his pacemaker.
Bartko always gets extra cheers from the crowd, as he partners with local hero Iljo Keisse.

Results

Points race
 
1 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne             11 pts
2 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                      10
3 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht     10
4 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                      8
5 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen             8
6 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                   6
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                  6
8 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                    3
9 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                            2
10 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                        1
11 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                1
12 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                      
 
Team elimination
 
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht     20 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen            12
3 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                10
4 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                   8
5 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                      6
6 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                      4
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                   
8 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                             
9 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne               
10 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                    
11 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                       
12 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                         
 
Lap record
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen       0.08.82
2 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                0.08.91
3 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                      0.08.89
4 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas              0.09.13
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep            0.09.15       
6 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne        0.09.18
7 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                   0.09.19       
8 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf          0.09.20       
9 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                 0.09.23       
10 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                
11 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank               0.09.31
12 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator            0.09.39
 
Madison
 
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht     20 pts
2 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne             12
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen            10
4 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                      8
5 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                   6
 
One lap behind
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                         4 pts
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                   
8 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                             
 
Two laps behind
9 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                       
10 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                 
11 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                    
 
Three laps behind
12 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                       

Derny
 
1 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                    5 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                   4
3 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                        3
4 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                            2
5 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                  1
6 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                             
 
Elimination
 
1 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                      10 pts
2 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                            6
3 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                  5
4 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               4
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                        3
6 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                          2
7 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                              
8 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                     
9 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht             
10 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                   
11 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                            
12 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                         
 
Derny
 
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht            5 pts
2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               4
3 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                         3
4 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                       2
5 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                             1
6 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           
 
500 metre sprint
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen             0.28.00
2 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                 0.28.60
3 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                         0.28.90
4 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                      0.29.10
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                  0.29.20
6 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                   
7 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           
8 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                   0.29.30
9 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                              
10 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht     0.29.50
11 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                    
12 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                     0.30.40
 
Sprint
 
1 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                 20 pts
2 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                      12
3 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                        10
4 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                            8
5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               6
6 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                             4
7 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           
8 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                             
9 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht             
10 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                   
11 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                        
12 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                    
 
Derny
 
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht            5 pts
2 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                    4
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                   3
4 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               2
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                        1
6 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                          
 
Scratch race
 
1 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                           10 pts
2 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                             8
3 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                          5
4 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                       4
5 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               3
6 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                          
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                         
8 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                             
9 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht             
10 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                    
11 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                  
12 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                   
 
Madison
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                  20 pts
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht           12
3 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                   10
One lap down
4 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                  8 pts
5 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                        6
6 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                       4
Two laps down
7 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                             
8 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           
9 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                             
10 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                         
Three laps down
11 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               
Four laps down
12 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                             
 
General classification after night one
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                  82 pts
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht           67
3 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                   43
Two laps down
4 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                 43 pts
5 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                        29
6 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                           24
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Marc Hester (Den) Callant - Groep                       22
Three laps down
8 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                      54 pts
Four laps down
9 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                           38 pts
10 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                             33
11 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                        11
Seven laps down
12 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                           19 pts