Nine years after its last edition, the “Six Days of Grenoble”, a mythical track cycling event, will be reborn in October on the track of the Palais des Sports in a three-day format, Bernard Thévenet said on Sunday.
“It’s nice to find the Six Days, a big Grenoble party. From the time I was running it was great”, underlined Sunday, on the sidelines of the Critérium du Dauphiné, the double winner of the Tour de France in 1975 and 1977, who will be the course designer for the event from October 26 to 28.
Created in 1971, the Six Days were for a long time an unmissable cycling event, attracting legends such as Belgian Eddy Merckx, before experiencing disaffection and withering away, going to four days in 2012 and 2013, then to three in 2014, until disappearing.
Since then, the track at the Palais des sports in Grenoble, site of the 1968 Winter Olympics, was no longer used and was even threatened with being permanently dismantled. “There were a lot of demonstrations against this demolition, recalled Bernard Thévenet, and in particular a petition” launched by Daniel Baal, the former president of the French Cycling Federation (FFC).
“Guy Chanal, former director of the Palais des Sports, jumped at the chance to relaunch the Six Days. We went to see the state of the track and we were surprised because it was hardly damaged, ”insisted Thévenet. The event, which combines sport and spectacle, will offer sprints in three categories (men, women, disabled) and an omnium event.
On the show side, there will be a cabaret and catering tables will be set up in the center of the track for 1,000 covers. The world speed champion, Mathilde Gros, is notably announced, a few months from the 2024 Olympics in Paris where she will aim for gold. The serenity of the event will depend in particular on the success of this edition of the renaissance.
