January 1/07 5:08 am - Burnaby 6 Day Update

Posted by Editor on 01/1/07
 

Giant Bicycles 6 Days of Burnaby - Update
Courtesy Glenn Barr

2007 will barely be a day old when some of the best track racers in North America will come to race at the Giant Bicycles 6 Days of Burnaby running from January 2 to 7. The Elite men's 6 Day will be the marquee event with seven, two-man teams vying for a $3000 prize purse.

Highlighting the field will be five Symmetrics riders spread within three teams. Reigning Canadian National Champion Madison duo Cam Evans and Christian Meier, Symmetrics gold and silver individual pursuit winners Svein Tuft and Zach Bell, and 2006 Burnaby 6 Day winner Marsh Cooper - who will be paired with 16 year old star on the rise Cody Campbell of dEVo.

ProTour team Cofidis will be represented with Tyler Farrar pairing up with Northwest track legend Kenny Williams. National teams from the US and Canada will also be represented in the respective pairings of Cody O'Reilly/Austin Carroll and Martin Gilbert/"Fly'n" Ryan McKenzie. The final Elite team will be no less spectacular with newly crowned U-23 champions Daniel Harm of the US and Adrian Hegyvary of Hungary.

These seven teams will race a variety of three to five events each night including the Madison event with total laps gained and points scored determining the overall winners. While these endurance riders will be the highlight, the best sprinters in Canada have been assembled to provide spectators with some extreme top end speed.

Cam MacKinnon, Matt Barlee, and "Supersonic" Monique Sullivan will highlight the sprint events. These three, along with a bevy of young speedsters and experienced sprinters, will tackle events such as the Electric Coast Urban Bicycle paced keirin where riders literally battle by any means for the best position behind the pacer as speeds increase to 50 kph and riders are left to sprint the remaining 500m at top speed. There will also be a round robin sprint tournament with each rider facing no less than nine maximum sprints in the morning, and with the winner potentially riding thirteen sprints in one day.

The 2007 Giant Bicycles 6 Days of Burnaby is not exclusively about the professional riders, as there are races for A, B and C level riders as well as new racers, juniors, couriers, and women. The event will be run in the tradition of European 6 Day races with hot food, beverages, and a live DJ spinning tunes. Racing at the Burnaby Velodrome on 7564 Barnet Hwy begins January 2, 3, 4 at 7PM, January 5 at 6PM and at 10AM on January 6 and 7. For more details and a full schedule please visit www.burnabyvelodrome.ca.