Race details | |
---|---|
Date | December, 90s editions in October |
Region | Herning, Denmark |
Local name(s) | Seksdagesløbet i Herning (in Danish) |
Discipline | Track |
Type | Six-day racing |
History | |
First edition | 1974 |
Editions | 14 |
Final edition | 1998 |
First winner | Leo Duyndam (NED) Ole Ritter (DEN) |
Most wins | Gert Frank (DEN) (5 wins) |
Final winner | Kurt Betschart (SUI) Bruno Risi (SUI) |
The Six Days of Herning was a six-day track cycling race held annually in the Messecenter Herning, Denmark. [1]
The first Six Days of Herning, contested in 1974, were won by Léo Duyndam and Ole Ritter. Fourteen editions took place: 10 from 1974 to 1983 and 4 from 1995 to 1998. [2]
Gert Frank holds the record for victories there with 5 successes. After several podium finishes in the 70s and 80s, Australian Danny Clark still finished third in 1996 at the age of 45.
Roger De Vlaeminck is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist. He was described by Rik Van Looy as "The most talented and the only real classics rider of his generation". Nicknamed "The Gypsy" because he was born into a family of traveling clothiers, he is known for exploits in the cobbled classic Paris–Roubaix race, but his performances in other "Monument" races gave him a record that few can match. His record in Paris–Roubaix earned him another nickname, "Monsieur Paris–Roubaix".
Patrick Sercu was a Belgian cyclist who was active on the road and track between 1961 and 1983. On track, he won the gold medal in the 1 km time trial at the 1964 Summer Olympics, as well as three world titles in the sprint in 1963, 1967 and 1969. On the road, he earned the green jersey in the 1974 Tour de France. Sercu is the record holder for the number of six-day track race victories, having won 88 events out of 223 starts between 1961 and 1983; several of these wins were with cycling great Eddy Merckx. He also won six stages at the Tour de France and eleven stages at the Giro d'Italia.
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Julien Stevens is a retired Belgian cyclist who raced from 1963 to 1977. Stevens spent most part of his career employed to help other riders, such as Rik Van Steenbergen, Rik Van Looy and Eddy Merckx. In 1969, at the road world championship in Zolder he got clear with Dutchman Harm Ottenbros but lost the sprint.
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TI–Raleigh was a Dutch professional track cycling and road bicycle racing team between 1972 and 1983. In that decade the team won over 900 races. The team was created and led by Peter Post. In his own cycling career, his nickname was the Six Days Emperor, being a track champion. He also won the 1964 fast edition of Paris–Roubaix. Post was pretty harsh on himself. He had no time to celebrate and was always looking ahead at the next race. That attitude might have been the key to the team's success.
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Cyrille Van Hauwaert was a Belgian professional road bicycle racer, known for winning classics as Bordeaux–Paris, Milan–San Remo and Paris–Roubaix. He was the first Belgian cyclist to win a stage in the Tour de France in 1909, also leading the general classification for one day.
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Herning is a Danish town in the Central Denmark Region of the Jutland peninsula. It is the main town and the administrative seat of Herning Municipality. Herning has a population of 51,312 including the suburbs of Tjørring, Snejbjerg, Lind, Birk, Hammerum, and Gjellerup, making Herning the 12th most populous urban area in Denmark.
Bjørnar Vestøl is a Norwegian former professional racing cyclist. He competed in the men's individual road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics. He also rode in the 2000 Giro d'Italia and finished 125th overall.
Lasse Norman Leth; né Norman Hansen; is a Danish professional road and track racing cyclist, who currently rides for Danish club team Team CO:PLAY–Giant Store. During his track cycling career, he has won five medals at the Summer Olympic Games, ten medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships and six medals at the UEC European Track Championships.
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Kevin Ray Hern is an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. A Republican, he is a member of the United States House of Representatives for Oklahoma's 1st congressional district. Born in Missouri and raised in Pope County, Arkansas, Hern graduated from Arkansas Tech University in 1986 and briefly attended the Georgia Institute of Technology before returning to Arkansas to work for McDonald's the following year. In 1997 he bought his first McDonald's franchise and in 1999 he earned his MBA degree from the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. After moving to Oklahoma in 1999, Hern expanded his McDonald's franchises, eventually owning 18 franchises in the Tulsa metropolitan area. In 2018, he ran his first campaign for office and was elected to the United States House of Representatives.