The 1998 Copenhagen Six Day Race

January 30th - February 4th 1998

Copenhagen six-day race - Martinello / Villa win!

The last night of the Copenhagen Six (also known as the Brondby Six) proved to be every bit as exciting as I predicted, with four teams in the running for overall victory at the start of the last night. Danish Duo Jens Veggerby and Jimmi Madsen launched an attack as the race approached the first of the five sets of points sprints at the end of the final Madison session, and managed to stay clear of the field through the first two sets of sprints to take the points and move into the lead overall on points. But that is a hard way to win points, and Italy's big sprinter Silvio Martinello soon closed it down and took the final three sets of points to secure overall victory for himself and Marco Villa - their fifth six-day victory this season!

Other Danish riders also featured, although perhaps not in the way they would have liked. Jens Veggerby's tyre blew on the final evening, and he came crashing down. Another Danish rider, the young sprinter Tayeb Braikia, found himself with nowhere to go and joined Veggerby on the deck. Both collected a few splinters from the wooden track in their backsides - but hey, that's what soigneurs are for, right?

Belgian pairing of Rik van Slijcke and Laurenzo Lapage didn't finish when Lapage was unable to start the final evening. Fat Nick is still trying to get the facts behind this one.

My Danish friend Kim Plesner tells me that Martinello and Villa had been marking Veggerby and Madsen very closely during the early stages of the race, which the two Danes took as a compliment. At least, we think that's what they meant when one of them "waved" at Silvio Martinello!

Britain's Rob Hayles was riding this event, his third professional Six. Rob is recovering well from a nasty fall during the Bremen Six, when a change went wrong and Rob hit his neck on the barrier at the top of the track before falling hard on his side. His hip appears to have been dislocated for a brief period, but popped back in without too much argument. Fat Nick's sources report that Rob rode a respectable Six in Copnehagen, and did good work.

Speaking of close-quarters carpentry, Jens Veggerby inspected this new, 150-metre track with his face during training. Not to be outdone, Belgium's Laurenzo Lapage and Rik van Slijcke managed to gouge chunks of the woodwork up when they came down during the race; fortunately, neither of them was badly hurt, and Rik even managed to enjoy the cake that the organisers presented to him on his 35th birthday!

A final thought: Besides the traditional "amateur six" running alongside the main event, Copenhagen has a schoolboy (and schoolgirl!) event running, too. Schoolkids doing Madison handslings - enough to give the heebies to those of a nervous disposition.......

Final positions after night 6:

• Do you have any news about the Copenhagen Six? Drop an e-mail to if you do, or send him a fax at 0044 161 476 2914 - grotty photocopies of results sheets are gratefully received!

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