The Six Days of Amsterdam ( nl, Zesdaagse van Amsterdam) is a six-day track cycling race held at the Amsterdam Velodrome in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The recordholder for the Six Days of Amsterdam is the Dutch cyclist Danny Stam with four victories. The most recent edition took place in 2016 and was won by Belgians

Kenny De Ketele Kenny De Ketele (born 5 June 1985) is a Belgian former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2007 and 2021, entirely for UCI ProTeam . He won eight medals at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, including a gold medal ...

and

Moreno De Pauw Moreno De Pauw (born 12 August 1991) is a Belgian former cyclist, who rode professionally for between 2014 and 2019. Major results ;2013 : 1st Stage 5 Rás Tailteann ;2014 : 2nd Six Days of Grenoble (with Otto Vergaerde) ;2015 : 1st Six Days ...

, their third Six Day victory as a duo.

History

The first edition was between 18 and 24 November 1932, in the old building of the Amsterdam RAI on the

Ferdinand Bolstraat The Ferdinand Bolstraat is a street in Amsterdam, named after the artist Ferdinand Bol in 1872. Description The Ferdinand Bolstraat has traditionally been, and continues to be, primarily a shopping street. It is a major artery of the neighbo ...

on a 166.6 metre track. This first edition was won by the Dutch couple

Jan Pijnenburg Johannes "Jan" Baptist Norbertus Pijnenburg (15 February 1906 – 2 December 1979) was a Dutch track cyclist who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics. He won the silver medal as part of the Dutch pursuit team. After the Olympics he turned prof ...

and

Piet van Kempen Piet may refer to: People *Piet (given name), a common name in the Netherlands and South Africa *Henri Piet (1888–1915), French lightweight boxer *Tony Piet (1906–1981), American Major League Baseball player Schools *Purushottam Institute of ...

. The year afterwards the Dutch couple

/ Cor Wals beat the French couple Marcel Guimbretiere/ Paul Broccado and the year later during the third edition it was the other way around and the French couple won. After

Adolphe Charlier ''Adolphe'' is a classic French novel by Benjamin Constant, first published in 1816. It tells the story of an alienated young man, Adolphe, who falls in love with an older woman, Ellénore, the Polish mistress of the Comte de P***. Their illicit ...

and

Frans Slaats Frans Slaats (born Waalwijk, Netherlands, 11 June 1912, died Waalwijk, 6 April 1993) was a Dutch professional cyclist who broke the world hour record. Slaats was a prominent velodrome rider in the 1930s, especially in Six-day racing. In September ...

won the fourth edition in 1936 there were no more Six Days held in Amsterdam for thirty years. Due to the large unemployment and later also due to the

second world war World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, the

National Cycling Union The National Cyclists' Union (NCU) was an association established in the Guildhall Tavern, London, on 16 February 1878 as the Bicycle Union. Its purpose was to defend cyclists and to organise and regulate bicycle racing in Great Britain. It merged ...

(NWU) prohibited to organise Six Day races. There were many proposals to organise a Six Day race after the second world war but the fifth edition was years later in 1966, in the new RAI building located on the Europaplein. After four editions in this building there were again about thirty years without the event organised in Amsterdam. Since 2001 the race takes place in the new build Amsterdam Velodrome located in

Sportpark Sloten Established in 1956, the Sportpark Sloten is a large sports complex located on the Riekerpolder at Sloterweg in Amsterdam - Sloten. Surrounding the stadium is an asphalt cycling circuit, 2,5 km in length. Stadia: * The Velodrome Amster ...

, with a 200-metre track and a capacity for 2000 spectators. World Champion

Ellen van Dijk Eleonora Maria "Ellen" van Dijk (; born 11 February 1987) is a Dutch professional road racing cyclist, who currently rides for UCI Women's WorldTeam . Besides road cycling she was also a track cyclist until 2012. Van Dijk is known as a tim ...

fired the starting shot for the 21st edition in October 2013.

List of winning teams of the Six Days of Amsterdam

SourceWinners
, www.zesdaagseamsterdam.nl. Retrieved 22 October 2013

References

External links

* * {{Six-day racing Sports competitions in Amsterdam Cycle races in the Netherlands Recurring sporting events established in 1932 1932 establishments in the Netherlands Six-day races Articles containing video clips Six Day Series

History

List of winning teams of the Six Days of Amsterdam

See also

References

External links