One of Erik Zabel's final victories before retirement was in Dortmund. (Image credit: AFP Photo)
The European winter Six Day calendar will lose one of its oldest races this year. The organisers of the Dortmund Six Day announced on Friday that a budget shortfall of nearly 300,000 euros has forced them to cancel the event, which was scheduled to take place October 29-November 3.
This year would have been the 68th edition of the event which was first run in 1926, and Westfalenhallen velodrome director Jochen Meschke said the decision was not made lightly. "We hoped to close the financial shortfall, but the gap was too great," he told dpa.
Dortmund is the third city to lose a Six Day event in the past two years. Last season the races in Stuttgart and Maastricht were cancelled and have not returned to the calendar this year.
The cancellation will be good news for organisers of the Grenoble Six Day, which now gets its own place on the calendar after years of overlap with either the Dortmund or Amsterdam events.
The overall number of Six Day events on the UCI calendar may not shrink, however, as Dutch organisers have added a new race in Alpendoorn which is scheduled for December 17-22.
2009-2010 Six Days (UCI calendar as of 9/11/2009)
October 19-24, 2009: 6-Daagse van Amsterdam, Amsterdam (Ned) 6D2 October 29 - November 3, 2009: Grenoble, 6-jours, Palais des Sports Grenoble (Fra) 6D1 November 10-15, 2009: 6-Giorni di Milano - EICMA, Vélodrome Fiera di Milano (Ita) 6D3 November 12-17, 2009: 46. Münchner 6-Tagerennen, Olympiahalle München (Ger) 6D2 November 18-23, 2009: Zesdaagse van het Noorden, Zuidlaren (Ned) 6D3 November 24-29, 2009: 6 Daagse Vlaanderen - Gent, Gents Sportpaleis, Citadelpark - Gent (Bel) 6D1 December 1-7, 2009: 6-Daagse van Rotterdam, Rotterdam (Ned) 6D2 December 15-20, 2009: Zürcher 6-Tagerennen 2008, Hallenstadion Arena, Zürich (Swi) 6D3 December 17-22, 2009: Zesdaagse van Apeldoorn, Apeldoorn (Ned) 6D3 January 14-19, 2010: Bremen Sechs-Tage-Rennen, AWD-Dome Bremen (Ger) 6D2 January 28-February 2, 2010: Berliner 6-Tage Rennen, Velodrome Berlin (Ger) 6D2 February 4-9, 2010: Copenhagen 6-days, Ballerup Super Arena (Den) 6D2 February 16-21, 2010: Lotto 6 - Daagse Hasselt, Hasselt (Bel) 6D2
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Laura Weislo is a Cyclingnews veteran of 20 years. Having joined in 2006, Laura extensively covered the Operacion Puerto doping scandal, the years-long conflict between the UCI and the Tour de France organisers ASO over the creation of the WorldTour, and the downfall of Lance Armstrong and his lifetime ban for doping. As Managing Editor, Laura coordinates coverage for North American events and global news.
