Reigning world madison champions Leigh Howard and Cameron Meyer (Axel Lange) have claimed their first six-day event, storming home on the final evening of the 101st edition of the Berlin 6. It was only their second attempt at the historic event and join only a handful of Australians to have won in Berlin.
In front of a 12000-strong crowd, the Australian pairing went into the final night in fifth place, down a lap, 22 points from leaders Belgians Iljo Keisse and Kenny De Ketele (Techem) on 213. Germans Leif Lampater and Roger Kluge (Schultheiss) were next best on 204, followed by compatriots Robert Bengsch and Marcel Kalz (LCW) back one point and a lap. Swiss pairing Franco Marvulli and Silvan Dillier (Wolfram) were fourth.
The Australians had so far ridden in stark contrast to their previous appearance in 2011, taking a defensive approach in the previous five days before launching an all-out assault for victory.
Howard was bullish heading into the final night of competition, saying on his twitter feed that it was “Time to pounce!” Meantime, Keisse had suggested that the Australians had been “bluffing”.
In the opening rounds of the night, Howard and Meyer along with Marvulli and Dillier gained a lap and so with the finals approaching four pairs were on zero laps with Bengsch and Kalz the only members of the top five to be a lap down.
With an hour and the final sprints left to race, the Australians drove the pace for a good 25 laps before claiming a 20 point bonus in the first two sprints. Howard and Meyer then took honours in the final sprint to cement their historic win with a 40-point total gain.
“It’s the best six-day race in the world with the most electric backdrop,” said Howard. “We wanted this victory and it should be a good omen for a third World Championship victory in a row at home in Melbourne. If we succeed, we want to show off the rainbow jersey at the next Six Days in Berlin again.”
Thanks to CyclingNews for excerpt
FEB