The 59th edition of the Sixdays Bremen ended with a surprise: it was not the favoured German teams, but the Italian duo Simone Consonni and Michele Scartezzini from Team Stark Gebäudereinigung who secured overall victory. In a tactically clever race, the two "red devils" managed to win the decisive lap 27 laps before the end, which ultimately helped them to triumph. With a strong final sprint, they finally prevailed by two points over Moritz Augenstein and Roger Kluge (Team swb), who took second place. Matias Malmberg and Nils Politt from Team Hermes Systeme completed the podium in third place. For the Italians, it was their first victory in the traditional race in the Hanseatic city after several attempts. "It finally worked out at the third attempt. We are very happy about the victory. The atmosphere in the hall was great, the Bremen race is really special and we'll definitely be back if it suits," said the victorious duo after the race.
Clever tactics lead to success
The Italians demonstrated excellent tactical understanding throughout the race. While the German teams took the lead, Consonni and Scartezzini saved important energy in the slipstream for the decisive moment. This strategy paid off in the end, as they went on to win the decisive lap and had the necessary freshness in the final sprint to make the victory perfect. Roger Kluge, who was on course for victory with his partner Moritz Augenstein for a long time, had to recognise the duo's superiority: "It was impossible to shake off the Italians. They rode in our slipstream for large parts of the race and saved the crucial energy." This assessment illustrates how well thought-out the Italians organised their race and ultimately received the well-deserved reward for their clever riding style. The sporting director Erik Weispfennig was delighted with the race and spoke of a "goosebump finale as it is written in the book".
German dominance in sprint and women's competitions
While the German teams narrowly missed out on victory in the main competition, they dominated the action in the other disciplines. In the women's competition, Franziska Brauße and Romy Kasper confidently prevailed against the international competition. The German duo controlled the race for long stretches and gave their opponents no chance. There was also a German success to celebrate in the sprint competition. Alessa-Catriona Pröpster and Robert Förstemann once again demonstrated their exceptional skills in this discipline. Over the entire four days of the event, they set standards with impressive top speeds and thrilled the audience in the ÖVB Arena.
Even before the 59th edition of the Sixdays Bremen came to an end, the organisers had already announced their commitment to next year's event. Those responsible at Event & Sport Nord GmbH (ESN) believe that the event is on the right track, both in sporting and social terms. The organisation team is already planning intensively for the upcoming 60th anniversary edition and would like to further strengthen the regional connection and interlink sport, entertainment and social exchange even more closely.
Leon Weidner
Working student
