On August 18–23, 1913, the Auto-Cycle Union hosted its annual Six Days’ Trial in Carlisle. It wasn’t the only six-day motorcycle trial in Europe or even on this side of the English Channel (Scotland had such one too, held a month prior in Perth), but garnered significant attention from the domestic press.
Some weren’t exactly onboard with seeing motorcycles rip through Lakeland. In a letter to the editor of The Motor Cycle that was published on July 17, Howard Peed wrote the following diatribe:
Sir,
I should like to protest against this year’s Six Days’ Trials being held in the Lake District. As a matter of fact, I think it quite unnecessary to hold them at all, especially if they are to take place in a part of the country frequented by holiday-makers. If motor cyclists must have a test of this sort, cannot they find some spot well away from civilisation and beauty, where they will not disturb the peace, quiet, and pleasure of tourists; or else distribute their route in such a way that it covers a far larger area, and by so doing minimise the discomfort and annoyance they undoubtedly cause to people in a particular district?
It would be a thousand pities to have the peace and quiet of our Lake District spoiled for some time by motor cyclists racing past its beauties, round its corners, up its hills—and its mountains too—ignoring everything except the pace of their machines.
What will the district be like for some weeks? To those of us who are used to spending our holidays there (and I am one of some twenty or so friends on whose behalf, as well as my own, I am writing) it will be absolutely unbearable! People who come to Keswick and the surrounding parts come there for that peace and quiet which in England only the Lake District affords. As a well-known resident of Keswick has said in a letter to me on the subject, “For every one person this sort of thing attracts it will drive twenty away’; and this I feel to be true.
I only hope that this protest will be taken up in the spirit in which it is written—that of protecting from all such disturbances the most sublime piece of country we have.
I might add that I am a keen motor cyclist myself.
The editor dryly added the following postscript: “We like to give all points of view, so we publish the above letter and deal with it in our leaderette.”
With apologies to Mr. Peed, but people love racing too much. In hindsight, you just voiced your opposition to what’d become the world’s biggest and most historic motorcycle race.
The Fédération Internationale des Clubs Motocyclistes, precursor to the modern FIM, took the trial across the Channel to France in 1914. It would be called off due to the Great War before returning in 1920. The International Six Days Trial continued to grow before another eight-year hiatus for the Second World War from 1939 to 1946. In 1981, it was formally renamed the International Six Days Enduro. Another cancellation happened for COVID-19 in 2020.
Because of the wars and pandemic, the 100th ISDE was not in 2013, though centennial celebrations did happen at the 2013 enduro. With 13 years wiped out, we had to wait until 2026 for the ISDE to finally reach the big 100.
Portugal’s Alentejo region had the honor of hosting ISDE #100 on October 12–17, with Grândola as the site of the paddock. Of course, being the centenary meant the Federação de Motociclismo de Portugal, FIM, and organizer Enjoy & Fun wanted to pull out all the stops and make it a memorable one.
In the month leading up to the race, the FIM released an eight-part documentary series on YouTube. Hosted by four-time winner Antoine Méo and released every Sunday, the docuseries detailed the event’s history from 1913 to 2026. A redesigned website also launched in July, while the Racing Motorcycle Museum added a temporary exhibition.
Castelo de Sines, the castle where Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama was supposedly born, was the site of the opening ceremonies. 34 teams—33 countries and FIM Latin America—took part in the presentation before six days of racing kicked off the next day.
500 riders were to tackle the 1,500-kilometer route. Alas, the weather refused to comply and created heavily dusty conditions that forced two tests on Day 3, another on Day 4, and once more on the Day 5 to be called off. Another was also sliced because of technical issues.
Despite the conditions, Italy was nigh unstoppable. After a slow start, Andrea Verona dominated the Enduro2 class to erase the early deficit and secure the individual title. His teammates Samuele Bernardini, Matteo Cavallo, and Morgan Lesiardo helped contribute to Italy holding off the French for the World Trophy.
Italy has now claimed the overall 17 times: 1930, 1931, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1986, 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2000, 2005, 2007, 2021, 2025, and now 2026.
“I’ve won my first individual 6Days title, which is an amazing feeling,” said Verona. “We’ve also won both the World Trophy and Junior World Trophy with Team Italy, so it’s been an incredible event for all of us. The final motocross test went well. I got a good start and settled into second place, which was enough to secure the overall victory. I’m really happy with how everything went and especially with the final result.”
Some rally raid flavor was injected courtesy of Sebastian Bühler and Gonçalo Reis for Portugal, along with Jérôme Martiny representing Belgium.
FIM’s ISDE docuseries on YouTube
Episode 1: The Beginning
Episode 2: Behind the Iron Curtain
Episode 3: The Last Trophy
Episode 4: The Word that Changed
Episode 5: The New Century
Episode 6: The Soul
Episode 7: One Hundred
Episode 8: The Grand Finale
Team results
World Trophy
| Finish | Team | Riders | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | Samuele Bernardini Matteo Cavallo Morgan Lesiardo Andrea Verona | 12:28:38.38 | Leader |
| 2 | France | Léo Joyon Zach Pichon Léo Le Quéré Julien Roussaly | 12:32:12.35 | + 3:33.97 |
| 3 | Sweden | Max Ahlin Albin Norrbin Mikael Persson Axel Semb | 12:35:30.19 | + 6:51.81 |
| 4 | United States | Steward Baylor Grant Davis Jonathan Girroir Dante Oliveira | 12:35:53.35 | + 7:14.97 |
| 5 | Spain | Josep García Yago Martinez Sergio Navarro Marc Sans | 12:37:04.15 | + 8:25.77 |
| 6 | Chile | Agustín Cortez Benjamín Herrera Camilo Herrera Sergio Villaronga | 13:11:14.67 | + 42:36.29 |
| 7 | Belgium | Dietger Damiaens Gauthier Lillo Jérôme Martiny Adrien Vandommele | 13:56:08.24 | + 1:27:29.86 |
| 8 | Israel | Itay Barak Iftah Franko Boaz Sasi Inbar Selinger | 14:09:20.38 | + 1:40:42.00 |
| 9 | Canada | Philippe Chaine Loic Leonard Owen McKill Tyler Medaglia | 14:14:26.35 | + 1:45:47.97 |
| 10 | Honduras | Gerhard Matamoros Mario Mejía Romario Mendoza Cesar Nuñez Rodas | 15:48:38.06 | + 3:19:59.68 |
| 11 | Finland | Peetu Juupaluoma Roni Kytönen Ville Meisola Samuli Puhakainen | 20:46:45.70 | + 8:18:07.32 |
| 12 | Portugal | Sebastian Bühler Luís Oliveira Gonçalo Reis Renato Silva | 23:49:56.30 | + 11:21:17.92 |
| 13 | Mexico | Cristobal Ochoa Silva Iván Ramirez Roberto Ramirez Arturo Rodriguez | 24:36:30.82 | + 12:07:52.44 |
| 14 | Great Britain | Jed Etchells Brad Freeman Jamie McCanney Nathan Watson | 25:14:11.00 | + 12:45:32.62 |
| 15 | Poland | Dawid Babicz Kacper Baklarz Maciek Więckowski Szymon Zajączkowski | 26:11:39.13 | + 13:43:00.75 |
| 16 | Australia | Kyron Bacon Korey McMahon Angus Riordan Joshua Strang | 27:34:36.30 | + 15:05:57.92 |
| 17 | Guatemala | Diego Bauer José Guillermo Diaz Javier Fernandez Juan Sebastian Valls | 38:36:36.89 | + 26:07:58.51 |
Women’s World Trophy
| Finish | Team | Riders | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | Rachel Gutish Brandy Richards Korie Steede | 10:37:09.86 | Leader |
| 2 | Australia | Jessica Gardiner Danielle McDonald Madi Simpson | 10:46:33.62 | + 9:23.73 |
| 3 | France | Charlene Boudon Mauricette Brisebard Justine Martel | 11:45:04.34 | + 1:07:54.48 |
| 4 | New Zealand | Rachael Archer Charlotte Knight Bailey Newbould | 12:13:36.30 | + 1:36:26.44 |
| 5 | FIM Latin America | Daniela Acosta Melina Bretillot Campbell Valentina Forti | 12:17:08.72 | + 1:39:58.66 |
| 6 | Canada | Zara Bertram Megan Sharpless Shelby Turner | 12:48:57.35 | + 2:11:47.49 |
| 7 | Brazil | Ana Cecilia Diniz Barbara Neves Janaina de Souza | 16:02:16.00 | + 5:25:06.14 |
| 8 | Chile | Ignacia Correa Antonia Maldonado Belén Norambuena | 17:17:34.66 | + 6:40:24.80 |
| 9 | Portugal | Joana Gonçalves Francisca Henriques Rita Vieira | 21:47:36.15 | + 11:10:26.29 |
| 10 | Great Britain | Lucy Barker Nieve Holmes Rosie Rowett | 23:22:08.83 | + 12:44:58.97 |
Junior World Trophy
| Finish | Team | Riders | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Italy | Kevin Cristino Alberto Elgari Manuel Verzeroli | 9:41:21.35 | Leader |
| 2 | United States | Toby Cleveland Cooper Jones Jason Tino | 9:45:10.43 | + 3:49.08 |
| 3 | Spain | Yago Dominguez Albert Fontova Àlex Puey | 9:48:03.70 | + 6:42.35 |
| 4 | Australia | William Dennett Kogan Lock Max Midwinter | 9:52:33.40 | + 11:12.05 |
| 5 | Czech Republic | Matyáš Chlum Jaroslav Kalný Matěj Skořepa | 9:54:57.82 | + 13:36.47 |
| 6 | Chile | Martin Fernandez Cristobal Huerta José Ramdohr Rozas | 10:00:20.04 | + 18:58.69 |
| 7 | Finland | Albert Juhola Jonni Hujala Niko Puotsaari | 10:03:58.87 | + 22:37.52 |
| 8 | Portugal | Ruben Ferreira Francisco Leite Luís Pinto | 10:11:52.54 | + 30:31.19 |
| 9 | FIM Latin America | Johan Barreto João Pedro Gonçalves Danilo Vescovi Sfalsim | 10:53:09.10 | + 1:11:47.75 |
| 10 | New Zealand | Blake Affleck Thomas Easton Ashton Whyte | 11:07:42.24 | + 1:26:20.89 |
| 11 | Sweden | Wiggo Lifvendahl Alfons Lindström Robin Gunnarsson | 15:10:36.28 | + 5:29:14.93 |
| 12 | France | Clement Clauzier Romain Dagna Thibault Giraudon | 17:33:54.00 | + 7:52:32.65 |
| 13 | Canada | Morgan Franklin Tavin Krutop Jacob Kolman | 21:13:23.44 | + 11:32:02.09 |
| 14 | Great Britain | Jack Keenan Callum Hughes Sam Hughes | 22:33:32.37 | + 12:52:11.02 |
Individual top tens
World Trophy
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 10 | Andrea Verona | Italy | E2 | 3:02:33.55 | Leader |
| 2 | 51 | Josep García | Spain | E1 | 3:03:15.11 | + 41.56 |
| 3 | 30 | Zach Pichon | France | E2 | 3:04:43.74 | + 2:10.19 |
| 4 | 42 | Grant Davis | United States | E2 | 3:05:49.69 | + 3:16.14 |
| 5 | 11 | Morgan Lesiardo | Italy | E1 | 3:06:49.63 | + 4:16.08 |
| 6 | 71 | Nathan Watson | Great Britain | E2 | 3:07:00.30 | + 4:26.75 |
| 7 | 21 | Max Ahlin | Sweden | E1 | 3:07:12.13 | + 4:38.58 |
| 8 | 72 | Brad Freeman | Great Britain | E3 | 3:07:15.11 | + 4:41.56 |
| 9 | 32 | Julien Roussaly | France | E3 | 3:07:15.53 | + 4:41.98 |
| 10 | 80 | Roni Kytönen | Finland | E2 | 3:07:40.83 | + 5:07.28 |
Junior World Trophy
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | Alberto Elgari | Italy | E3 | 3:09:51.19 | Leader |
| 2 | 45 | Toby Cleveland | United States | E1 | 3:13:08.39 | + 3:17.20 |
| 3 | 34 | Clement Clauzier | France | E1 | 3:13:56.34 | + 4:05.15 |
| 4 | 44 | Cooper Jones | United States | E2 | 3:14:03.36 | + 4:12.17 |
| 5 | 96 | Cristóbal Huerta | Chile | E3 | 3:14:28.94 | + 4:37.75 |
| 6 | 36 | Romain Dagna | France | E3 | 3:14:33.59 | + 4:42.40 |
| 7 | 15 | Manuel Verzeroli | Italy | E2 | 3:14:53.83 | + 5:02.64 |
| 8 | 56 | Yago Domínguez | Spain | E1 | 3:14:56.26 | + 5:05.07 |
| 9 | 64 | William Dennett | Australia | E2 | 3:15:36.24 | + 5:45.05 |
| 10 | 54 | Àlex Puey | Spain | E2 | 3:15:39.30 | + 5:48.11 |
Women’s World Trophy
| Finish | Number | Rider | Team | Class | Total Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 301 | Brandy Richards | United States | E2 | 3:25:26.72 | Leader |
| 2 | 305 | Danielle McDonald | Australia | E1 | 3:31:06.35 | + 5:39.63 |
| 3 | 302 | Korie Steede | United States | E1 | 3:31:59.80 | + 6:33.08 |
| 4 | 306 | Madi Simpson | Australia | E1 | 3:36:56.16 | + 11:29.44 |
| 5 | 330 | Rachael Archer | New Zealand | E1 | 3:38:01.80 | + 12:35.08 |
| 6 | 304 | Jessica Gardiner | Australia | E1 | 3:38:31.11 | + 13:04.39 |
| 7 | 303 | Rachel Gutish | United States | E3 | 3:39:43.34 | + 14:16.62 |
| 8 | 310 | Lucy Barker | Great Britain | E1 | 3:40:17.57 | + 14:50.85 |
| 9 | 316 | Shelby Turner | Canada | E1 | 3:41:16.28 | + 15:49.56 |
| 10 | 311 | Rosie Rowett | Great Britain | E1 | 3:46:37.21 | + 21:10.49 |
Featured image credit: Future7Media
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