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68th Zesdaagse Vlaanderen - 6D1

Gent, Belgium, November 18-23, 2008

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Keisse and Bartko take dominating victory

By Bjorn Haake in Gent, Belgium

The final podium in Gent
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Iljo Keisse and Robert Bartko won the Zesdaagse van Vlaanderen Gent in dominating fashion. Although the pair had an unassailable lead on points, they sealed the deal by stealing a lap in the waning moments of the final event – a Madison race. This left them one lap ahead of three teams: Erik Zabel and Leif Lampater (348 points), Danny de Ketele and Andreas Beikirch (271) and the Swiss pair of Bruno Risi and Alexander Aeschbach (242).

Keisse/Bartko finished the event with 436 points. Although the margin of victory was large, the win didn't come easy for Keisse. "This has been a very tough Six Days, especially the first two days. Bartko is a super rider and he really pulled me through those moments."

Keisse spoke while the cheering for him went on very loudly. It was fitting he would acknowledge that. "I have been everywhere, but the spectators here are the best."

The UIV Cup of the U23 riders also went to hometown boys, Gent university students Tosh van der Sande and Stijn Steels. They were two laps ahead of the American combination of Guy East and Austin Carroll. The US boys capped an exciting month-long trip. Carroll was grateful for the opportunity. "We have seen so many places it is really great."

Snow outside, good atmosphere inside

It was finally a Six Day, as the events didn't start in the middle of the night. But everybody was glad to be inside as heavy snow covered Belgium. The unfortunate cyclo-cross racers at the nearby Superprestige spent their race getting cold and wet, while the atmosphere in 't Kuipke was quite the opposite.

The Six Day racers instead kicked it off with a wild points race that Luke Roberts took. The Australian was once again reduced to a one-man team and could only do the non-team events. Winning the opening event was a bit of a consolation.

A delighted Iljo Keisse
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Roberts couldn't participate in the team elimination (or one could argue he already did) and it was Dutch pair Danny Stam and Peter Schep who took the race.

The 500m time trial once again went to Keisse/Bartko, with a 28.15. It was a close battle, though, with three other teams under 29 seconds. This put Keisse/Bartko in the lead again, as they crossed the 400-point barrier and received a bonus lap.

The first derny race went to Stam, who beat Jørgensen. The single elimination race went to Dimitri de Fauw, who beat Angelo Ciccone. Ciccone led out the sprint, but De Fauw came past him in the last few metres.

The second Derny race was about as close as it could get. The big men Zabel, Keisse and Risi stormed shoulder to shoulder around the final laps. Zabel prevailed by a tyre's width, beating Keisse who closed in but left it too late. Risi ended in third, ahead of De Ketele, Mertens and Van Bon.

There was a break in the programme and after that Erik Zabel was honoured for all his years in cycling. He got his own special bonus lap, riding around the track under the cheers of the fans.

The Supersprint pitted the non-favourites against each other as the final six teams battled for 10 laps. De Fauw and De Neef took another victory, ahead of Van Bon and Ligthart. Mertens/Müller finished third.

Clean time trial victory

Eric Zabel during his lap of honour
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By taking the one-lap time trial Keisse/Bartko kept a clean vest. They beat nine seconds (8.78) and took every time trial in the course of the week. Among the people who cheered loudly was Christopher Peeters, of the city of Gent. He heads the department for finances, facilities and sport and is a driving force behind getting sports events in the city, like last year's Tour de France stage.

After that it was once again "We will rock you" theme and the riders pedalling around while doing La Ola.

The exciting Derny final
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The final event of the afternoon was a 60-minute Madison that was followed by 50 laps with a sprint every ten laps. For anybody to win the race against Keisse/Bartko, they would have to take out laps, as the leaders had already over 400 points.

It was very tough for the competitors, though. Every time someone had gained a lap, Keisse/Bartko would come right back. Or they would take the initiative, which was always accompanied by an intense noise level.

After 60 minutes, Keisse/Bartko, Zabel/Lampater, Risi?Aeschbach and De Ketele/Beikirch were equal on laps. After easing into the final laps with a sprint every ten laps, it was Keisse again, who took the initiative. The noise level went up to unhealthy levels as they lapped the field and took the final intermediate sprint.

The Belgian-German pair started celebrating in the final laps. This left it open to Erik Zabel to take the last sprint, ahead of Danny Stam and Bruno Risi.

Steels and Van der Sande take the UIV Cup in style

The last day of the UIV Cup concluded with a 200-lap points race. The Belgians pair Stijn Steels and Tosh Van der Sande were in control, with having a two-lap lead. But the Americans stayed on the ball and rode aggressively throughout the race.

The first sprint was taken by Spengers/Verhamme, while the green-clad Czech duo Dostal/Bares took number two and three. In the fourth sprint, Carroll and East had it well worked out and took the sprint.

But the final went again to the Czechs, followed by Van der Sande and Steels, who secured their overall victory at home.

Carroll and East answered the challenges by Van Immerseel and Vlasselaar. The Americans managed to gain a lap on the Belgians to secure second place. The Belgians finished in third. Dostal/Bares were fourth, but took the green points jersey.

Day 6 - November 23:

Photography

For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here

Images by Cyclingnews.com

Images by Bjorn Haake/Cyclingnews.com

Results

UIV Cup 

Madison

1 Stijn Steels / Tosh Van der Sande (Bel)               9 pts
2 Guy East / Austin Carroll (USA)                       9

One lap behind
3 Gert Jan van Immerseel / Maarten Vlasselaer (Bel)     5

Two laps behind
4 Jackie Simes / Peter Williams (USA/GBr)               4

Three laps behind
5 Jan Dostal / Jiri Bares (Cze)                        18
6 Thomas Sprengers / Simon Verhamme (Bel)               7
7 Christian Kos / Jesper Asselman (Ned)                 2
8 Andrew Fenn / Luke Rowe (GBr)                         1
9 Michael Schweizer / Michael Riedle (Ger)               
10 Damien Corthesey / Pierre Kaeslin (Swi)               

Five laps behind
11 Randy Costermans / Gerrit Broeders (Bel)              

Professional races

Points race
 
1 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel)                                       7 pts
2 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                          5
3 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                    5
4 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                             5
5 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht             3
6 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                     2
7 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                             1
8 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                         
9 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                                 
10 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                   
11 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                
 
Team elimination
 
1 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                            20 pts
2 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                    12
3 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                            10
4 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           8
5 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                    6
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                                 
7 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht              
8 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                           
9 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                    
10 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                        
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                
 
500m TTT
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                0.28.15
2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                            0.28.69
3 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                       0.28.95
4 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                    0.29.21
5 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                         0.29.26
6 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                               0.29.50
7 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht         0.29.53
8 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                 0.29.56
9 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                         0.30.65
10 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                     0.30.89
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                  
 
Derny race 1
 
1 Danny Stam (Ned) / Vaarten                                                     5 pts
2 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Walrave                                               4
3 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Zijlaard                                                  3
4 Steven Deneef (Bel) / Van Uytfanghe                                            2
5 Fabio Masotti (Ita) / Huybrechts                                                
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Schoefs                                                    
 
Elimination
 
1 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Camoso                                                  10 pts
2 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) Geka Kaas                                                 6
3 Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                                        4
4 Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht                                3
5 Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                                                2
6 Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                                        
7 Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                                                  
8 Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                                              
9 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                                                      
10 Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                                             
 Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                                      
 
Derny race 2
 
1 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Zijlaard                                                    5 pts
2 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Vaarten                                                    4
3 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Walrave                                                     3
4 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Van Uytfanghe                                          2
5 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Schoefs                                                    1
6 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Huybrechts                                                 
 
Supersprint
 
1 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                            20 pts
2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                               12
3 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                  10
4 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                        8
5 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           6
6 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                              
7 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht              
8 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                     
9 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                      
10 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                          
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                
 
Flying lap
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                0.08.78
2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                            0.09.01
3 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                      
4 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                       0.09.08
5 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                         0.09.21
6 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht         0.09.31
7 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                    0.09.35
8 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                 0.09.43
9 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                         0.09.60
10 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                     0.09.74
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                
 
Scratch race
 
1 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                  10 pts
2 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                                6
3 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                           5
4 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht             4
5 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                             3
6 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                             2
7 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel)                          
8 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                         
9 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                           
10 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                     
11 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                    
 Nicky Cocquyt (Bel) / Ingmar Depoortere (Bel) AVS                                
 
Final General classification
 
1 Iljo Keisse (Bel) / Robert Bartko (Ger) Topsport Vlaanderen                  436 pts
 
One lap behind
2 Erik Zabel (Ger) / Leif Lampater (Ger) Mega Doe-Het-Zelf Deschacht           348 pts
3 Kenny De Ketele (Bel) / Andreas Beikirch (Ger) Capri-Sonne                   271
4 Bruno Risi (Swi) / Alexander Aeschbach (Swi) Mercator                        242
 
Seven laps behind
5 Danny Stam (Ned) / Peter Schep (Ned) VDK Spaarbank                           205 pts
 
Fifteen laps behind
6 Tim Mertens (Bel) / Andreas Muller (Ger) JDK                                 276 pts
 
Seventeen laps behind
7 Casper Jörgensen (Den) / Jens-Erik Madsen (Den) Jartazi                      228 pts

22 laps behind
8 Leon Van Bon (Ned) / Pim Ligthart (Ned) Fischer                              302 pts
 
28 laps behind
9 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) / Steven Deneef (Bel) Camoso                           251 pts
10 Luke Roberts (Aus) / Nicky Cocquyt (Bel)                                    162
 
31 laps behind
11 Angelo Ciccone (Ita) / Fabio Masotti (Ita) Geka Kaas                        182 pts
  
UIV Final general classification
 
1 Stijn Steels / Tosh Van der Sande (Bel)             111 pts

Two laps behind
2 Guy East / Austin Carroll (USA)                      75

Three laps behind
3 Gert Jan van Immerseel / Maarten Vlasselaer (Bel)    32

Eight laps behind
4 Jan Dostal / Jiri Bares (Cze)                        88
5 Thomas Sprengers / Simon Verhamme (Bel)              36
6 Andrew Fenn / Luke Rowe (GBr)                        36

Nine laps behind
7 Michael Schweizer / Michael Riedle (Ger)             21

Eleven laps behind
8 Christian Kos / Jesper Asselman (Ned)                13
9 Jackie Simes / Peter Williams (USA/GBr)              10
10 Damien Corthesey / Pierre Kaeslin (Swi)              4

Twenty-four laps behind
11 Gert Jan van Immerseel / Maarten Vlasselaer (Bel)    5