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
Alex Ballinger

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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.

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.

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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.