To begin with, track racing and six days are entirely different that what you think of when picturing a bicycle race. To begin with they are all indoors, in the middle of the winter, and racing doesn't begin until about 8pm with the races concluding as late as 2:30am.

The primary event is the Madison. There are teams of two people and a total of twelve to fifteen teams on average. The sheer number of athletes racing on a small 200m velodrome with bankings as steep as 46 degrees makes for some exciting entertainment!

Stuttgart, Germany, the first event of two for me, was no different. I was competing in the UIV U23 Talents Cup. This was a series run in conjunction with the Professional Six Days.

Each day we had two Madisons. The first would begin around 8:30 and would last about an hour. The second event for the evening, another hour Madison, would begin following some of the pro races along with some of the additional entertainment. This meant we were getting onto the track around 12:30 in the morning for our second event. We were lucky to be back at the hotel and in bed by 2:30am. As one Australian rider put it, "I feel like a vampire. We are up racing all night, get up mid-afternoon, and it practically dark outside already."

They were long nights, but great racing and massive crowds with as many as 11,000 spectators. As for how the races turned out for me, Stuttgart (began January 21st) was a bit disappointing to say the least. I was riding with another American, Rahsaan Bahati. We were a good match of speed and power. Unfortunately, on the second to last night of racing, there was a big crash that ended up putting Rahsaan in the hospital. Needless to say, we were not about to compete on the final evening and defend our top ten position.

There was a barely single rest day and then I was off to the Six Days of Berlin (began January 27th). Since Rahsaan had to fly home, I was partnered with a local German rider. I was lucky to have a partner at all, but you could say him and I did not click on the bike. We ended up winning several sprints during the Madisons, but were not able to maintain position and we were eventually lapped. This was a bit disappointing, but I was happy with my form and the fact that I could out sprint some of the top U23 riders from Europe.

Overall, it was a great experience and has given me an excellent jumpstart to the road season. I hope that some of those hard efforts will help me in the early season races and land me on a couple podiums for Sakonnet Technology!

Written by:

CRCA/Sakonnet Technology rider David Wiswell

Report Provided by:

CRCA/Sakonnet Technology Cycling Team