The final six-day race of the 1998 / 99 winter season is underway in Milan, Italy. As well as the six-day race itself, media attention will focus on top Italian star Gianni Bugno, who officially retired last October but who will make a special "farewell appearance" during a separate omnium event to be held during one evening of the six-day race.
Fat Nick is having difficulty finding news about the Sei Giorni di Milano in the Fila Forum. Britain's Rob Hayles was riding, but he finished well down the field. And I gather there was some fun about missing bikes for the first day or two, which resulted in various riders having to borrow bikes to race on! Meantime, the race lead seems to change on a daily basis, although it is fair to say that by the fourth night, there were only really five teams still in contention.
On the last night, Italian six-day star (and Olympic champion) Silvio Martinello and his partner Marco Villa came through to win the race. The decision went right down to the wire in the final sprint, Martinello just beating another Italian star, Adriano Baffi, to win by 519 points to Baffi & Kappes' 515 points. Third place went to Andrea Collinelli and Jimmi Madsen. Interestingly, the Italian press suggested that Collinelli was orignally due to race with Silvio Martinello, but Martinello reckoned his chances were better with Marco Villa, with whom he has won two world Madison titles. This was the fourth straight win in Milan for Silvio Martinello, who said "Of the 17 six-days that I have won in my career, this was the hardest. I had my work cut out beatign Baffi in the final sprint, and I only made it due to the support of the crowd."
My thanks to Ralph Schürman and to the Pro-News listowner for sending me various details, and to fellow-EPCN member Kim Plesner for keeping me posted on results.
Fat Nick has heard nothing at all about the planned six-day race in Australia, so I suspect that is not going to take place this year. However, it is interesting to note that the Curuchet brothers were riding in Milan, so maybe the Buenos Aires six-day race scheduled for the end of March will actually take place (scheduled for 31st March to 5th April at the Luna Park).
And talking of dates, next season's Milan Six may well be earlier in the season, perhaps from 14th to 19th December, although there is a bit of a question mark over who is financing the next Milan Six. Also, watch out for a new six-day venue in the 1999/2000 season at Frankfurt-Am-Main, Germany.
1 Silvio Martinello / Marco Villa (ITA), 519 points,
2 Adriano Baffi (ITA) / Andreas Kappes (GER), 515 points,
1 laps down:
3 Jimmi Madsen (DEN) / Andrea Collinelli (ITA), 488 points,
4 Bruno Risi / Kurt Betschart (SUI), 474 points,
2 laps down:
5 Etienne De Wilde (BEL) / Juan Llaneras (ESP), 261 points,
4 laps down:
6 Tayeb Braikia / Michael Sandstød (DEN), 210 points,
7 laps down:
7 Erik Weispfennig / Gerd Dörich (GER), 201 points,
18 laps down:
8 Isaac Galvez / Miguel Alzamora (ESP), 221 points,
19 laps down:
9 Ivan Cerioli (ITA) / Frank Corvers (BEL), 184 points,
20 laps down:
10 Ivan Quaranta / Massimo Strazzer (ITA), 291 points,
28 laps down:
11 Fulvio Frigo (ITA) / Rob Hayles (GBR), 130 points,
32 laps down:
12 Robert Slippens / Danny Stam (NED), 78 points,
34 laps down:
13 Sabino Cannone (ITA) / Lorenzo Lapage (BEL), 80 points,
36 laps down:
14 Juan and Gabriel Curuchet (ARG), 137 points
Sabino Cannone and Juan Curuchet neutralised..
To find out how to book tickets for the Milan Six, check out Roger Hughes' booking info.
And while you're here, why not have a look at some photos of bike racing action from other six-day cycle races? Or you can have a read of my report of last year's Milan six-day race.
Do you have any
news about the Milan Six? Drop an e-mail to 
if you do, or send him a fax at 0044 161 476
2914 - Fat Nick does not read a word of Italian, but he
knows people who do, so grotty photocopies of results
sheets and local newspapers are gratefully received!