US pair out as crashes mar U25 Gent Six Day

Before the second day of the Memorial Noël Foré, the U25 version of the Gent Six Day in Belgium, the US pair Justin Williams and Jesse Marans were already out of the race due to a crash during the warm-up. The pair came down hard on the steeply-banked wooden track, and were taken to a nearby hospital, both with suspected broken collarbones.

The racing action resumed with only 11 teams taking part, but in the day's Madison a huge crash claimed most of the Belgian teams. Jochen De Weer was unable to continue, while Giovanni de Merlier had to stop for an extended time to get medical care. De Merlier's partner Lennert Buysse broke his bike in two.

New Zealander Christopher Macic, partnered with Belgian Francesco van Coppernolle, reportedly sparked the crash and decided to stop.

The crash knocked the aggression out of the racers, and the remaining eight teams fought only for points at the sprints. Australians Alex Carver and Jackson Law gained enough points to gain the race lead over the British pair Jonathan Mould and Simon Yates.

The Swiss duo Claudio Imhof and Silvan Dillier leapfrogged the British, taking second at 10 points behind Carver and Law, one point in front of Mould and Yates.