Gent Six Day: Wiggins and Cavendish defend lead with one night remaining

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Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish (Team Saey-Calant) withstood an early threat to their overall lead Saturday at the Gent Six Day, temporarily losing the lap they’d gained Friday night but getting it back in the final Madison. The British duo will go into Sunday’s final evening of racing with a tenuous grasp on the overall lead.

Wiggins and Cavendish came into the evening one lap up on their main rivals, and through the early events it looked like the status quo would remain intact. But during the first Madison of the evening, Kenny De Ketele and Moreno De Pauw (Team Baloise Insurance) regained the lap they were down on Wiggins and Cavendish, pushing the Belgian duo into the lead by 22 points.

The Team Baloise Insurance duo then won their heat of the Derny race and the 500m time trial to maintain their lead, with just the Derny final and the Madison remaining. But when Wiggins and Cavendish took a lap in the final Madison, along with eventual Madison winners Elia Viviani and Iljoe Keisse (Team LIDL), the Belgian duo slipped back into second. Viviani and Keisse, who are also a single lap down on the British duo, trail the Belgians by 15 points for third overall.

Day 5 Results