October 27, 2007 – “Attack”, “Attack”, it seemed that that was the theme of racing on Friday, night four at the Forest City Velodrome, as the second half of the 6 Nights of competition continued. All of the Elite riders were well rested and seemed to be full of gas as the racing got underway. Team Ontario with the stout pair of Daneille DeFrancheshi (Winsdor) and Vince DeJong (Brantford) lead the way throughout the evening.

Two other teams Can-Am of Garnett Abbey (Burlington) and Brian Crosby (Minnesota) and Team Quebec, Martin Rooseboom and Phillipe Raymond (Montreal) were even with the Ontario pair on laps to start the night. This quickly changed as after the Elite Scratch race, Ontario went over 100 points for the race and gained a lap in the first event.

All of our riders are really showing their professional bike handling skills during every exchange, safe, clean and fast. no mistakes, no riding under other riders or riding between exchanges… it’s a pleasure to watch.

As the Madison’s continued the top three teams extended their lead by putting Team Delhi (Dave Byer & Mike Renneboog) and Team London (Branden Throop and Scott Lundy) down a lap in the first chase. Speeds were kept high with the first jam lasting over eight minutes from the opening whistle. The pace finally slowed just long enough to have a cash preem on the line for the first three finishers. Team Ontario scooped up the cash and seemed to accelerate at will… that is until Team Quebec attacked for the first of many attempts to gain a lap during the evening.

As they were caught, Can-Am went over the top to separate themselves from the rest. Crosby opened up a sizable gap and Abbey extended the margin. The Can-Am team was up 1/2 a lap and Quebec came charging back to get on the rear wheel of Abbey. Within seconds there was yet another preem and by now all the teams had regrouped and recovered for the $100 offer. With three to go Roosenboom (Quebec) found some speed and came over Abbey, with DD stacked up three deep (not the most advantageous position on our 138m long Velodrome). At the line Quebec earned the preem and the crowd loved the tight close racing.

In the second 45min-plus 10 laps, the Elite division continued to put on a great show. Team Delhi who were suffering from the flu, surprised the rest of the field and stole a lap back from Team Ontario. London missed the attack and had to watch as Byer went to the front to take a well desired lap.

Racing was keep high with the average speed well over 55 kph. There were very few sections of the race with no attacking and the preems kept the riders busy rubbing elbows to take home as many preems as possible. In the final sprint, Team Ontario out-distanced team Quebec in a show of leg speed and bike handling as the riders crossed the line together. The officials had Ontario, but the crowd had Quebec… this battle will continue on Saturday night at 7pm.

Some great news came in this week, as one of our Elite riders Brian Crosby has been invited to race in Europe over the next four weeks in three different 6 Day races. Congratulations Brian, we will be following you in Germany next week in the Under 25, 6 day circuit. This shows the level of competition at the FCV.

We look forward to seeing all you Ontario Cycling fans at the last two days of the 6 Day races – Saturday night at 7pm and Sunday afternoon at 1pm. With three teams in contention for the win, anything can happen.


Results – Night 4 – October 26

A’ Teams

1. Ontario – Daniele Defranceschi (Windsor), Vince DeJong (Brantford) 17 points
2. Can-Am – Garnett Abbey (Burlington), Brian Crosby (Minnesota) 64 points, 1 lap down
3. Quebec – Martin Rooseboom (Montreal), Phillipe Raymond (Montreal) 41 points, 1 lap down
4. London – Brandon Throop (London), Scott Lundy (London) 4 points, 3 laps down
5. Delhi – Mike Renneboog (Delhi),Dave Byer (LaSalette / Toronto) 31 points, 4 laps down


B’ Teams

1. Team Red – Rob Good (Waterloo), Ryan Aitcheson (Kitchener), Stephanie Bester (London) 64 points
2. Team Black – Lorne Falkenstein (London), Ivan Cernigoy (London), Sarah McKenzie-Picot (London) 88 points, 1 lap down
3. Team Purple – Joe Brennan (New Jersey), Taylor Martin (Hamilton), Kyle Rupay (Peterborough) 64 points, 1 lap down
4. Team Green – Rob Kowal (New Jersey), Jean-Luc Bertrand (Bermuda/London), Emily McKenzie-Picot (London) 32 points, 3 laps down
5. Team Blue – John Hueston (Aylmer), Rod Olliver (Oakville), Brian Kelly (London) 3 points, 6 laps down

More information can be found at www.ForestCityVelodrome.ca