De Ketele and De Pauw retake lead from Britons in dramatic final Madison
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De Ketele and De Pauw celebrate their 2016 Six day London win
De Ketele and De Pauw on the 2016 Six Day London final podium
De Ketele and De Pauw on the 2016 Six Day London final podium
Mark Cavendish of Great Britain celebrates on the podium with his daughter Delilah Grace Cavendish during the Six Day London
De Ketele and De Pauw celebrate their 2016 Six day London win
Kenny de Ketele and Moreno de Pauw of Belgium celebrate winning the final of the Six Day London
Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain ahead of the final of the Six Day London
Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain celebrate their second place finish on the Podium after the final of the Six Day London
De Ketele and De Pauw on the 2016 Six Day London final podium
Meyer, Scotson, De Ketele, De Pauw, Wiggins and Cavendish on the 2016 Six Day London final podium
Cameron Meyer and Callum Scotson of Australia, Kenny de Ketele and Moreno de Pauw of Belgium and Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish of Great Britain celebrate on the Podium after the final of the Six Day
Meyer, Scotson, De Ketele, De Pauw, Wiggins and Cavendish on the 2016 Six Day London final podium
Riders in action during the 60 lap Derny race at the Six Day Londo
Katie Archibald of Great Britain ahead of the Six Day London
A general view during the Six Day London Cycling
Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain celebrates winning the 60 lap Derny during the Six Day London
Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain during the 60 lap Derny during the Six Day London
Joachim Eielers of Germany celebrates winning the sprinters at the Six Day London
Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins in action during the team elimination during the Six Day London
Moreno de Pauw and Kenny de Ketele successfully defended their Six Day London titles on Sunday, dramatically taking back the lap they lost the night before to Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in the final Madison to unseat the overnight leaders. The final sprint to the line sealed the victory for the Belgian duo.
"With all respect to everybody, this victory is the biggest Six Day victory by far, it’s amazing," de Ketele said in a report on the event website. "The last sprint was just a mental thing, the gap was already big enough on points, it was all about gaining that lap back. Honestly, I think we were a bit lucky, but it’s amazing."
De Ketele and De Pauw beat the British duo by 11 points in the final tally, with the Australian pairing of Camron Meyer and Callum Scotson came on third. Katie Archibald (Great Britain) maintained her hold on the women's omnium, topping the final standings ahead of compatriot Neah Evans Denmark's Amalie Diderikson. Joachim Eilers (Germany) was the overall spent champion.
The Six Day came down to the final Madison after de Ketele and de Pauw made an early exit from the elimination race and came fourth in the Derny final that Cavendish and Wiggins won. The Belgians started the Madison a point ahead but a lap down. The Belgians launched their attack in the final 30 circuits, connecting with the bunch with just 10 to go.
"It was so hard, it was the hardest 20 laps of our careers," de Pauw said. "We knew it would be difficult to gain a lap but we had to because we were a lap behind. So we were easy on our efforts in the elimination and Derny to save energy, then in the final chase we went all-or-nothing with 30 laps to go. We quickly got half a lap, then it was just the last mental part to get the half a lap, then with 10 laps to go we did it."
Wiggins said he was disappointed to lose the lead in the final race, but he was happy to have the week behind him. He also credited his rivals with a solid week of racing.
"It’s no mean feat losing to those guys," Wiggins said n a report on the event website. "They’re real specialists at this. They nearly won the world’s off of us back in March, they took a lap right at the end similar to that.”
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Cavendish was also quick to praise his competitors.
"We’re majorly disappointed that we didn’t just win that after all the people who turned out for it, but to lose to Kenny and Moreno - it’s not like we haven’t lost to the best Six Day riders in the world," Cavendish said. "We’re world champions and we got to ride in front of our home crowd, so we’re happy with that."
