Six Day Berlin: Danes dominate second night as Marc Hester and Jesper Mørkøv steal lead in final Madison
Both the men’s and women’s competitions are in the hands of Denmark
All the action from day two of Six Day Berlin (Picture: Arne Mill / www.frontalvision.com)
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The second night of the Six Day Berlin saw a masterclass of Danish racing as Marc Hester and Jesper Mørkøv took control of the men’s competition.
In the women’s battle, the top two spots are held by Trine Schmidt and Julie Leth, both from Denmark.
Britain’s Andy Tennant took victory in the first 40-lap derny race of the night.
Hester and Mørkøv finished with a flourish in the closing stages of the monster 45-minute Madison chase to take the lead from home favourites Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt.
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Now sitting on 161 points after day two, Hester and Mørkøv are 31 points clear of Andreas Graf and Andreas Müller in second.
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Kluge and Reinhardt sit third on 158 points, but they are down one lap to the leaders – a handicap they will need to rectify if they plan to top the tables after day six.
On the closing Madison, Mørkøv said: “45 minutes is not a short race, but Marc found a good spot.
“We just went flat out and crossed our fingers that it was enough.”
His team-mate Hester added: “You need to be mentally on top, the moment you take a break mentally is also the moment the legs stop working.
“But we try and keep the spirit up of each other and see how far it can take us.”
Kluge took victory in the second 40-lap derny after Tennant’s success, and German Sebastian Schmiedel won the points race.
In the women’s contest, Danes Trine Schmidt and Julie Leth asserted their dominance on the second night of racing.
The pair sealed a comfortable win in both the team elimination and the Madison.
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Schmidt leads the overall standings heading into day three with 190 points, Leth just behind on 183.
Frenchwoman Pascale Jeuland sits behind in third, on 150 points.
Schmidt said: “It was fun and really, really hard.
“But we do what we can to practice our Madison skills and this was perfect and a really good experience.”
Leth added: “We didn’t know what to expect – it’s always hard in the Madison.
“Of course we wanted to win but we also wanted to time our sprints, communicate in the changes and it is valuable experience.
“We’re super happy to win.”
In a first for Six Day Berlin, a trio of German fast men went up against three Russian rivals in a team sprint event.
Robert Foerstemann’s late withdrawal from the competition due to injury meant the German had to be replaced by Frenchman Francois Pervis to be the third man alongside Max Levy and Anton Hoehne.
It was an epic battle as the home favourites just edged out Russians Shane Perkins, Denis Dmitriev and Nikita Shurshin.
Levy sealed the top spot in the individual sprints and held his position at the top of the overall standings.
Hoehne also wowed the Berlin crowds by taking a keirin crown on day two.
Tickets are on sale now at https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/sixdaymanchester
The Six Day Series is heading to Manchester between 22-24 March 2019. See some of the world’s best riders including Olympic and World Champions.
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Alex Ballinger is editor of BikeBiz magazine, the leading publication for the UK cycle industry, and is the former digital news editor for CyclingWeekly.com. After gaining experience in local newsrooms, national newspapers and in digital journalism, Alex found his calling in cycling, first as a reporter, then as news editor responsible for Cycling Weekly's online news output, and now as the editor of BikeBiz. Since pro cycling first captured his heart during the 2010 Tour de France (specifically the Contador-Schleck battle) Alex covered three Tours de France, multiple editions of the Tour of Britain, and the World Championships, while both writing and video presenting for Cycling Weekly. He also specialises in fitness writing, often throwing himself into the deep end to help readers improve their own power numbers. Away from the desk, Alex can be found racing time trials, riding BMX and mountain bikes, or exploring off-road on his gravel bike. He’s also an avid gamer, and can usually be found buried in an eclectic selection of books.