Starting in just over a week, the Berlin Six Day will celebrate its 100th running when the racing begins on January 27th.
The triumphant anniversary will be attended by a plethora of the sport's top track racers including six World Champions and eight European Champions. The Guests of Honor will be former teammates at Team Telekom, friends, Andreas Klöden, and the enigmatic Jan Ullrich.
Ullrich's attendance will certainly be a surprise, as it was only recently that the former Tour de France champion admitted that he was just coming out of the doldrums of burnout.
"I am cured of my burnout and will become a father for the third time soon," said the German legend to Sporza a little over three weeks ago.
"After four months of extreme weakness, I feel back on top form today. I even trained for four hours with my good friend, Andreas Klöden, although I've not been on the bike for a long time, so I was crawling."
More importantly than the return of Ullrich to the public light at a bike race (though, now that it's mentioned, that does seem rather notable), the Berlin Six has something extra to celebrate: assurance of its continuity until at least 2017. The happy news was delivered by the race's top box, Heinz Seesing, after getting the approval from the Berlin Senate for the next half decade.
Along with the announcement of the Berlin Six's safe future, Seesing also announced the debut of a new Six in 2012 in Leipzig.
While road racing in Germany is still extremely downtrodden, the track seems to be showing signs of life. Perhaps the Six Day circuit can lead Germany's passion for cycling back to the heights of the Nineties?