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THE STORY SO FAR - Day 2

by Steve Penny
Ghent, Belgium
19th November 2008

Before Thursdays racing commenced local flyer Iljo Keisse and Robert Bartko stood on top of the standings followed by the retiring, but still strong, Erik Zabel and his partner Leif Lampater in 2nd place. The word around Het Kuipke is that Zabel is actually stronger than many might have expected. Perhaps being used to the bigger gears on the road rider he needed the first two Sixes to really find his track legs although it is early days and a lot can change in a couple of nights of Six day racing. Keisse and Bartko have the advantage of being by far the fastest pair in the flying lap and 500 metre Time Trials (TT). Maximum points gained in those events alone each night will see them rack up a very tidy 180 points by the ‘finale’ on Sunday afternoon. Very well placed in 3rd place are Kenny De Ketele, a local boy and Keisses’ partner with the Belgian national team, and Andres Beikirch. They have 99 points so are just one point away from a bonus lap and the overall lead. The 23 year old De Ketele has stated his ambition to make the podium and with 2 nights gone he is on course but over 6 hard night’s fatigue can set in and things can change quickly.

After the first night Bruno Risi found himself in the unusual position of being 2 laps behind the leaders. Some semblance of normality was resumed last night when he and fellow Swiss Alexander Aeschbach got back to within one lap of the leading trio of teams. Without his regular partner Marvulli the veteran Risi will be struggling for points over the week though. Marvulli is a rider who can challenge Keisse in the Flying laps and as a fast sprinter always gains a lot of points during a long nights racing. Racing with Aeschbach is in some ways reminiscent of Risi in his latter days with Kurt Betschart when the Alpine Express (as they were known) usually needed to get a clear lap gain to win a Six. But, as noted, Aeschbach is a solid rider in his own right who should really get a chance to race in all the Sixes and not just as a taxi driver. He told us that he was a little off the pace on the first night having ridden in Milan, not Munich, which was to quote Alex “not raced at Ghent speed”. Look for them to improve as the Six progresses.

Elsewhere as Patrick Sercu suggested there is a strong middle of the field with the next four teams within 2 laps of each other. Stam / Schep look unlikely to challenge for the podium but are a shoe in for 5th place barring accidents or illness. Following a promising Ghent debut last year Tim Mertens renewed his partnership with Andreas Muller and they have again looked a decent pairing. Australian Luke Roberts and Dane Marc Hester are going well in the 500 metre TTs, 2nd only to Keisse / Bartko and will probably spend the rest of the week fighting it out for 6th or 7th with Mertens / Muller.

Bringing up the rear, and as unfortunately we suggested in the preview, at a whopping 18 laps down after 2 nights are young Belgians Nicky Cocquyt and Ingmar Depoortere, the latter again appears the weak link.

The standings at 20.00 on Thursday 20 November:
Keisse / Bartko		136 Points
Zabel / Lampater		115
De Ketele / Beikirch	99 
+ 1 lap
Risi / Aeschbach		70
+ 2 laps
Stam / Schep		54
+ 3 laps
Roberts / Hester		75
+ 4 laps
Mertens / Muller		81
+ 5 laps
Jorgensen / Madsen		90
+ 8 laps
Van Bon / Ligthart		66
Ciccone / Masotti		39
+ 9 laps
De Fauw / De Neef		65
+ 18 laps
Cocquyt / Depoortere	40