The Six Day Series or Six Day Cycling Series is an annual series of

track cycling Track cycling is a Cycle sport, bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its i ...

events run by Madison Sports Group featuring world class cyclists. The series, organised for the first time in the 2016–17 season, was formed to develop an elite-level competition series around the globe and combines track cycling with a party atmosphere. The aim was to rejuvenate the once flagging format and provide enticing rewards for cyclists during the

road cycling Road cycling is the most widespread form of cycling in which cyclists ride on paved roadways. It includes recreational, racing, commuting, and utility cycling. As users of the road, road cyclists are generally expected to obey the same laws a ...

off season. The series initially comprised four meetings each season, held between October and April, each held on six consecutive days. Each season ended with a final event, qualification for which was granted through the previous six day events. The 2018–19 season consisted of seven events across five countries. With the additions of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, which was the first time the series ran outside of Europe. This was intended as an expansion strategy to attract new viewers and business opportunities. In January 2019, an event in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

was announced as a new stage to introduce 6-day racing to Asia. The Hong Kong and Australian rounds will be held on 3-day weekends instead of the standard 6-day format. The

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

cancelled events from 2020 until 2022. The Six Day Series returns to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

from January 27 to 29, 2023.

History

Six Day Cycling originated in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

in 1877. Initially, riders competed individually, with the winner being the individual who completed the most laps over six days. However, this format was changed in the early 20th century to teams of two so one rider could race while the other rested, in order to keep the race continually going. The success of the

madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States * Madison (footballer), Brazilian footballer Places in the United States Populated places * Madi ...

format in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

led to their introduction in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. The first was at

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

in 1906, although it was abandoned after three days because of a lack of interest.Islington 1878-Wembley 1951, Coureur, UK, undated cutting

then tried the format, three years later, this time with success. Five races were held in Germany in 1911–12.

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

followed in 1912 and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1913. Six-day races continued to do well in Europe. Its heart was in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

- except during the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

period when the races were banned - but it was strong, too, in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In 1923 the journalist

Egon Erwin Kisch Egon Erwin Kisch (29 April 1885 – 31 March 1948) was an Austro-Hungarian and Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. He styled himself ''Der Rasende Reporter'' (The Racing Reporter) for his countless travels to the far corners ...

attended the tenth staging of the

Six Days of Berlin The Six Days of Berlin is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Berlin, Germany. The event was first held in 1909. In its first edition, 15 teams of two cyclists each competed in the exhibition hall at Berlin Zoo for glory and, not leas ...

and wrote a celebrated piece "Elliptische Tretmuehle" (Elliptical Treadmill). London saw one race at Olympia in July 1923, and then a series of races at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in the London Borou ...

starting in 1936. Local rider

Frank Southall William Frank Southall (2 July 1904 – 1 March 1964) was an English racing cyclist who won silver medals for Great Britain in the individual road race (run as an individual time trial) at the 1928 Summer Olympics and a track cycling medal ...

crashed and left for hospital. So did another British hope, Syd Cozens. Only nine of the 15 teams lasted the race. The series continued, with more success, until the start of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939. Today, the 24-hours-a-day regime has been abandoned, with the Six Day format involving six nights of racing, typically from 6pm to 2am, on indoor tracks (velodromes).

Event hosts

Current hosts

The World Series was originally scheduled to consist of six events in the 2018–19 season.

was added between the

and

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

races in the latest update during January 2019. Most of these competitions began after they were added to the World Series, but with certain exceptions. The oldest of these meetings is the

, which dates back to 1909. Other competitions that pre-date the Series include the

Six Days of London 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics A six-sided polygon is a hexagon, one of the three regular polygons capable of tiling the plane. A hexagon a ...

(which ran from 1923 to 1980 intermittently and was then disbanded, until it returned in the 2016–17 season as a leg on the Series) and the

Six Days of Copenhagen The Six Days of Copenhagen is a six-day track cycling race held annually in Copenhagen, Denmark. The event was first held in 1934. The event is held at the Ballerup Super Arena Ballerup Super Arena (formerly Siemens Arena) is a multi-purpose i ...

which began in 1933.

Previous hosts

References

External links