103rd Berlin Six-Day Race

Berliner Sechstagerennen – © Franke

Berliner Sechstagerennen – © Franke

– © Promo

When it is cold in winter and people would prefer not to be outside, the Berlin Six-Day Race attracts fans to the indoor cycling track to watch exciting professional sports in a relaxed atmosphere. Various cycling races have always been part of the Six Day Race, including motor-paced races, Derny racing, and sprinting.

Event venues rich in tradition
Track cycling now has a 100-year long tradition to look back on, modelled after cycling races in England and the USA. The first race was held in an exhibition hall at Zoologischer Garten in 1909.. From 1911, it was held in the popular Berliner Sportpalast and also attracted international cycling athletes such as Piet van Kempen, the “Flying Dutchman”. In 1924, Richard Huschke and Franz Krupkat set the world record of 4,544.2 kilometres, which remains legendary and unbeaten today. Rudi Mirke and Gerard van Beek’s fatal crash in 1951 fortunately remains an exception.

After the Sportpalast was torn down in 1973, the Six Day Race moved to the Deutschlandhalle, and then in 1999 to the new velodrome in Landsberger Allee. The velodrome also has long tradition of cycling, as it used to be the Werner-Seelenbinder-Halle, where the East Berlin Six Day Race was held.

Professional sports and entertainment
The Berlin Six Day Race is not only a popular event because of the first-class national and international professional athletes who race it, but also of course because of the appealing shows and entertainment programmes. Celebrities often attend the Berlin Six Day Race, whether it’s Jan Josef Liefers, Robert Harting, or Vladimir Klitschko – at the starting shot of each Six Day Race, people in the public eye have traditionally taken part. This mixture attracts around 75,000 visitors every year – more than anywhere else in the world.