Six-day racing

300px|right|thumb|Racing at the 2007 [[Six Days of Dortmund]]

Six-day cycling is a track cycling event that takes place over six days. Six-day races started in Britain, spread to many regions of the world, were brought to their modern style in the United States and are now mainly a European event. Initially, individuals competed alone, the winner being the individual who completed the most laps. However, the format was changed to allow teams (usually of two riders each), one rider racing while the other rested. The 24-hours a day regime has also been relaxed, so that most six-day races involve six nights of racing, typically from 6pm to 2am, on indoor tracks (velodromes).

The overall winner is the team which completes most laps. In the event of teams completing the same number of laps, the winner is the team with most points won in intermediate competitions (see points race). As well as the 'chase' to gain laps over competitors, a typical six-day programme will include time trials, motor-paced, intermediate sprint and elimination races. In the main 'chase' or Madison events (named after Madison Square Garden in New York City, where the two-rider format was devised), both riders may be on the track at the same time, taking it in turns to race, hand-slinging each other back into action.

In 2024, the only remaining six-day races that are still annually ridden are those of Rotterdam and Gent. Others, including major historic events such as Berlin, Copenhagen, London, Bremen, Fiorenzuola, Melbourne, and Zürich, have seen their six-day races either truncated to three or four day events, or canceled altogether.

Origins

The first six-day event was an individual time trial at the Agricultural Hall in Islington, London, in 1878, when a professional called David Stanton sought a bet that he could ride 1,000 miles in six successive days, riding 18 hours a day. A Mr Davis put up £100 and the stake was held by the Sporting Life newspaper. Stanton started at 6am on 25 February and won the bet in 73 hours, riding on a high-wheeled machine at an average speed of 13.5 mph.

Six-day cycle races involving more than one rider grew out of the 19th-century enthusiasm for endurance and other novelty competitions. A promoter at the Agricultural Hall held a six-day walking contest in April 1877. It was enough of a success for another to be held the following year. That inspired another organiser, name no longer known, to organise a six-day race in the same hall but for cyclists, also in 1878. He hoped to attract the crowd of 20,000 a day that had turned out for the walkers.

The Islington Gazette reported:

<blockquote>"A bicycle contest was commenced at the Agricultural Hall, on Monday last, for which £150 is offered in prizes for a six days' competition, the money to be allocated thus: £100 for the first man, £25 for the second, £15 for the third, and £10 for the fourth."</blockquote>

The race started at 6am with only four of the 12 entrants on the track. Although it is often said that the first six-day was a non-stop, no-sleeping event that ran without pause for six days, in fact riders joined in when they chose and slept as they wished.

The winner was Bill Cann, of Sheffield, who led from the start and finished after 1,060 miles.

The first American six-days

In America, the first six-day bicycle race was held in Chicago’s Exposition Building in November 1879, a competition between Englishmen against Americans, won by the English, David Stanton and Bill Cann, who rode a combined distance of 1,665 miles. Many other six-day races were held in America during the 1880s.

thumb|A six-day race at [[Madison Square Garden (1890)|Madison Square Garden II in December 1908]]

However, the event did not become popular until 1891, when the first Six Days of New York were held in New York's Madison Square Garden. Initially, these races were contests of raw endurance, with a single rider completing as many laps as possible. At first, races were less than 24 hours a day. Riders slept at night and were free to join in the morning when they chose. Faster riders would start later than the slower ones, who would sacrifice sleep to make up for lack of pace. Quickly, riders began competing 24 hours a day, limited only by their ability to stay awake. Many employed seconds, as in boxing, to keep them going. The seconds, known by their French name, soigneurs, were said to have used doping to keep their riders circling the track. Riders became desperately tired. According to a contemporary newspaper clipping retained by Major Taylor:

<blockquote>The riders are becoming peevish and fretful. The wear and tear upon their nerves and their muscles, and the loss of sleep make them so. If their desires are not met with on the moment, they break forth with a stream of abuse. Nothing pleases them. These outbreaks do not trouble the trainers with experience, for they understand the condition the men are in.</blockquote>

The condition included delusions and hallucinations. Riders wobbled and fell. But they were often well paid, especially since more people came to watch as their condition worsened. Promoters in New York paid Teddy Hale US$5,000 when he won in 1896 and he won "like a ghost, his face as white as a corpse, his eyes no longer visible because they'd retreated into his skull", according to one report. The New York Times said in 1897:

<blockquote>It is a fine thing that a man astride two wheels can, in a six-day race, distance a hound, horse, or a locomotive. It confirms the assumption, no longer much contested, that the human animal is superior to the other animals. But this undisputed thing is being said in too solemn and painful way at Madison Square Garden. An athletic contest in which participants 'go queer' in their heads, and strain their powers until their faces become hideous with the tortures that rack them, is not sport. It is brutality. Days and weeks of recuperation will be needed to put the Garden racers in condition, and it is likely that some of them will never recover from the strain.</blockquote>

Introduction of the two-man team events

Six-day racing remained popular in the US, even though the states of New York and Illinois led in 1898 in limiting races to 12 of 24 hours. The intention was to allow riders to rest half the day, but promoters realised that teams of two, with only one rider on the track at a time, would give each the 12 hours' rest the law intended while still allowing the race to go around the clock. Races lasted six days rather than a week to avoid racing on Sunday. The actress Peggy Joyce – whose wealth was such that Cole Porter wrote a lyric that said My string of Rolls-Royces, is longer than Peggy Joyce's – gave regular $200 bonus prizes, or primes. She was so delighted when a band in the track centre played Pretty Peggy with eyes of Blue that she put up $1,000. turned into one of the wildest ever experienced in the history of the Garden. It necessitated turning on the huge lights over the track, costing the Garden thousands of dollars in lighting. Berlin tried, three years later, with success. Five races were held in Germany in 1911–12. and then a series of races at Wembley starting in 1936. The local man, Frank Southall, crashed and left for hospital. So did another British hope, Syd Cozens. Only nine of the 15 teams lasted the race.</blockquote>

<blockquote>He thought it was me at first and chatted away quite happily to Dave, whose French was near enough non-existent. Well, it was not long before he sensed something was wrong and whipped the scarf off the poor lad's face. He stormed over to my cabin and dragged me out, half asleep, on to the track. That was that! He and the other officials kept their eyes on us after that and we had little chance of getting away with any more larks like that.

Reinventing six day cycling

In 1986, German cycling manager Winfried Holtmann revived six-day races in Stuttgart, Münster and Leipzig. As part of the promotion for the races, Holtmann and German game designer Walter Toncar designed the board game 6-Tage Rennen (6-Day Race). However, the revival did not catch on, and was abandoned after one season.

Madison Sports Group, a promoter of cycling events founded in 2013, decided in 2015 to reinvigorate the competition through the introduction of new six-day cycling events in six major cities across the globe, which together form the Six Day Series. The series starts in London travelling across the world, where it touches down in Berlin, Copenhagen, Melbourne and Manchester, before concluding in Brisbane. Although the Six Day Series is their flagship concept, MSG had previously promoted the Rotterdam, Amsterdam and Mallorca Six Day events and were unveiling Hong Kong as the first host in Asia in March 2019.

In 2015, not long after the London 2012 Olympic Games, Madison Sports Group brought Six day Cycling back to London, the event being held at the Lee Valley Velodrome, which had been built as part of the Olympic legacy. Sir Bradley Wiggins chose the 2016 London event as his last UK track appearance, and riders including the Australian Olympic gold medallists Cameron Meyer and Callum Scotson have also raced.

The women's event has also grown with the opportunity to compete in the Madison, an added attraction for some of the world's best exponents of track racing. Two-time world champion Kirsten Wild had attended in previous years, while in Six Day Manchester 2019 Britain's joint most-decorated female Olympic track cyclist at the time, Laura Kenny, competed, joined by Six Day London 2017 and Olympic team Pursuit champion Katie Archibald, and fellow British Cycling teammate Elinor Barker, an Olympic, two-time world and four-time European champion.

Most six-day victories

Names in bold are riders still racing.

{|class="wikitable" border="1"

!Nr.!!Name!!Country!!Races won!!Races ridden!!Win average

|1||Patrick Sercu||||88||223||0,3946

|2||Danny Clark||||74||235||0,3149

|3||René Pijnen||||72||233||0,3090

|4||Peter Post||||65||155||0,4194

|5||Bruno Risi||||61||178||0,3427

|6||Rik Van Steenbergen||||40||134||0,2985

|7||William Peden||||38||127||0,2992

| ||Etienne De Wilde||||38||197||0,1929

|9||Kurt Betschart||||37||142||0,2606

| ||Klaus Bugdahl||||37||229||0,1616

|11||Gustav Kilian||||34||90||0,3778

| ||Albert Fritz||||34||198||0,1717

|13||Fritz Pfenninger||||33||181||0,1823

|14||Heinz Vopel||||32||74||0,4324

| ||Piet van Kempen||||32||110||0,2909

| || Franco Marvulli||||32||112||0,3333

|17||Dietrich Thurau||||29||97||0,2990

|18||Silvio Martinello||||28||97||0,2887

|19||Dieter Kemper||||26||165||0,1576

|20|||Emile Severeyns||||25||151||0,1656

|21||Andreas Kappes||||24||116||0,2069

| ||Marco Villa||||24||141||0,1702

|23||Iljo Keisse||||23||72||0,3194

| ||Rudi Altig||||23||79||0,2911

| ||Ferdinando Terruzzi||||23||121||0,1901

| ||Tony Doyle||||23||139||0,1655

| ||Sigi Renz||||23||159||0,1447

|28||Alfred Letourneur||||21||84||0,2500

| ||Robert Bartko||||21||76||0,2800

| ||Reggie McNamara||||21||119||0,1764

| ||Palle Lykke||||21||122||0,1721

| ||Urs Freuler||||21||139||0,1511

|33||Gert Frank||||20||143||0,1399

|34||Gerrit Schulte||||19||73||0,2603

|35||Eddy Merckx||||17||35||0,4857

| ||Jan Pijnenburg||||17||50||0,3400

| ||Gerard Debaets||||17||90||0,1889

| ||Donald Allan||||17||107||0,1589

| ||Matthew Gilmore||||17||107||0,1589

|40||Cecil Yates||||16||57||0,2807

| ||Sid Patterson||||16||57||0,2807

| ||Jean Roth||||16||85||0,1882

| ||Reg Arnold||||16||103||0,1553

| ||Leo Duyndam||||16||143||0,1119

| ||Danny Stam||||16||111||0,1744

| ||Wilfried Peffgen||||16||188||0,0851

|47||Francesco Moser||||15||35||0,4285

| ||Alfred Goullet||||15||29||0,5172

|||Scott McGrory||||15||69||0,2029

| ||Roman Hermann||||15||182||0,0824

| ||Adriano Baffi||||15||99||0,1515

|52||Kay Werner Nielsen||||14||56||0,2500

|53||Armin von Büren||||13||58||0,2241

| ||Jens Veggerby||||13||89||0,1461

| ||Erik Zabel||||13||28||0,4643

|56||Rik Van Looy||||12||43||0,2791

| ||Graeme Gilmore||||12||100||0,1200

|58||Gregor Braun||||11||44||0,2500

| ||Günther Haritz||||11||83||0,1325

| ||Robert Slippens||||11||70||0,1571

|61||Rolf Aldag||||10||29||0,3448

| ||Horst Oldenburg||||10||100||0,1000

| ||Lucien Gillen||||10||116||0,0862

| ||Wolfgang Schulze||||10||135||0,0741

Six-days

{|class="wikitable sortable" border="1"

!Six at!! Number of editions!!First ridden!! Last ridden!!class="unsortable"|Most wins by

|Adelaide (SA)||6||1960||1967||Sid Patterson, Nino Solari (2)

|Amsterdam Six Days of Amsterdam||22||1932||2014||Danny Stam (4)

|Antwerp Six Days of Antwerp||52||1934||1994||Peter Post (11)

|Apeldoorn||1||2009||2009||Léon van Bon, Pim Ligthart and Robert Bartko (1)

|Århus Six Days of Aarhus||9||1954||1961||Kay Werner Nielsen (4)

|Atlantic City Six Days of Atlantic City||2||1909||1932||No repeat winners

|Bassano del Grappa Six Days of Bassano del Grappa||8||1986||1998||Danny Clark (3)

|Bendigo (Vic)||1||1960||1960||Bill Lawrie, Vic Brown (1)

|Berlin Six Days of Berlin||109||1909||2020||Klaus Bugdahl (9)

|Boston Six Days of Boston||13||1901||1933||Alfred Goullet, Alfred Hill, Norman Hill (2)

|Bremen Six Days of Bremen||51||1910||2014||René Pijnen (7)

|Breslau||8||1921||1931||Piet van Kempen, Willy Rieger (3)

|Brisbane (Qld)||1||1932||1932||Richard Lamb, Jack Standen (1)

|Brussels Six Days of Brussels||46||1912||1971||Rik Van Steenbergen (8)

|Buenos Aires Six Days of Buenos Aires||27||1936||2000|| Jorge Batiz (5)

|Buffalo Six Days of Buffalo||16||1910||1948||Gustav Kilian (4)

|Charleroi Six Days of Charleroi||3||1967||1969||Patrick Sercu (2)

|Chicago Six Days of Chicago||50||1915||1957||Gustav Kilian (6)

|Cologne Six Days of Cologne||46||1928||1997||Albert Fritz (6)

|Copenhagen Six Days of Copenhagen||52||1933||2019||Danny Clark (8)

|Cremona||1||2009||2009||Walter Pérez, Sebastian Donadio (1)

|Dortmund Six Days of Dortmund||67||1926||2008||Patrick Sercu, Rolf Aldag (8)

|Essen Six Days of Essen||8||1960||1967||Peter Post , Fritz Pfenninger (3)

|Fiorenzuola d'Arda Six Days of Fiorenzuola||25||1998||2022||Franco Marvulli (5)

|Frankfurt Six Days of Frankfurt||37||1911||1983||Dietrich Thurau, Patrick Sercu (5)

|Ghent Six Days of Ghent||80||1922||2025||Patrick Sercu (11)

|Grenoble Six Days of Grenoble||44||1971||2014||Franco Marvulli (6)

|Groningen Six Days of Groningen||4||1970||1979||Klaus Bugdahl, Dieter Kemper (2)

|Hanover Six Days of Hanover||10||1913||1981||Emile Carrara (2)

|Hasselt Six Days of Hasselt||4||2006||2009||Bruno Risi (3)

|Herning Six Days of Herning||14||1974||1998||Gert Frank (5)

|Launceston (Tas)||21||1961||1987||Keith Oliver (4)

|London Six Day London||24||1923||2019||Patrick Sercu (8)

|Maastricht Six Days of Maastricht||13||1976||2006||René Pijnen (6)

|Madrid Six Days of Madrid||14||1960||1986||Rik Van Steenbergen (3)

|Maryborough (Qld)||3||1961||1967||Bruce Clark, Robert Ryan, Jim Luttrel, Ronald Murray, Sid Patterson, Barry Waddell (1)

|Melbourne (Vic)||24||1912||2017||Leandro Faggin, Sid Patterson (3)

|Milan Six Days of Milan||29||1927||2008||Francesco Moser (6)

|Montréal Six Days of Montreal||37||1929||1980||William Peden (7)

|Munich Six Days of Munich||46||1933||2009||Bruno Risi (9)

|Münster Six Days of Münster||34||1950||1988||Jean Roth (5)

|New York City Six Days of New York||70||1899||1961||Alfred Goullet, Franco Giorgetti (8)

|Newark Six Days of Newark||4||1910||1915||No repeat winners

|Newcastle (NSW)||3||1961||1970||Sid Patterson (2)

|Nouméa||18||1977||2003||Robert Sasson, Jean-Michel Tessier (4)

|Paris Six Days of Paris||42||1913||1989||Piet van Kempen, Schulte, Achiel Bruneel, Albert Billiet, Jean Aerts, Georges Sérès (3)

|Perth (WA)||5||1961||1989||Peter Panton, Klaus Stiefler, Ronald Murray, Enzo Sacchi, Ian Campbell, Barry Waddell, Sid Patterson, John Young, Kim Eriksen, Michael Marcussen (1)

|Quebec Six Days of Quebec||3||1964||1966||Emile Severeyns (2)

|Rio de Janeiro Six Days of Rio de Janeiro||1||1956||1956||Severino Rigoni, Bruno Sivilotti (1)

|Rotterdam Six Days of Rotterdam||38||1936||2024||René Pijnen (10)

|Saint-Étienne Six Days of Saint-Étienne||12||1928||1953||Piet van Kempen (3)

|Stuttgart Six Days of Stuttgart||31||1928||2008||Andreas Kappes (6)

|São Paulo Six Days of São Paulo||2||1957||1959||Severino Rigoni, Bruno Sivilotti, Antonio Alba, Claudio Rosa (1)

|Sydney (NSW)||17||1912||1974||Ken Ross (3)

|Tilburg||2||2009||2011||Tristan Marquet, Franco Marvulli, Nick Stöpler, Yoeri Havik (1)

|Toronto Six Days of Toronto||11||1912||1965||William Peden (4)

|Townsville (Qld)||1||1962||1962||Barry Lowe, Sid Patterson (1)

|Turin Six Days of Turin||7||2001||2008||Marco Villa (4)

|Whyalla (SA)||3||1966||1968||Sid Patterson, Robert Ryan, Joe Ciavola, Barry Waddell, Keith Oliver, Charly Walsh (1)

|Zuidlaren||2||2007||2008||Bruno Risi, Franco Marvulli, Danny Stam, Robert Slippens (1)

|Zürich Six Days of Zürich||58||1954||2013||Bruno Risi (11)

Six-day races

2006–07 Six Days Track Cycling Events
2007–08 Six Days Track Cycling Events

References

External links

Velodrome.org.uk - A Home for Track Cyclists on the Web - Six-Day Page
A somewhat slanted article discussing the history of Six Day racing in the US
6dayracing.ca, a Canadian & USA History of Sixday Racing including reports and results, old 6-day programs and memorabilia.