Moreno De Pauw and Kenny De Ketele have moved into the overall Six Day London lead after two days of racing, leading Belgian compatriots Iljo Keisse and Gijs Van Hoecke by 14 points. The duo kicked off day 2 by winning the 20km madison while De Ketele's win in his Derny heat added further points to their tally but they took a hit when they crashed out of the team elimination race. Lasse-Norman Hansen and Pim Ligthart are currently third on the standings.
With Keisse taking out the other Derny heat, he and Van Hoecke looked to capitalise on the misfortune of their fellow Belgians in the team race but it was Denmark’s Alex Rasmussen taking victory in that event ahead of Chris Latham and Ollie Wood as Keisse and Van Hoecke finished third.
"It’s not over yet, we still have four days to go," said De Pauw. "The first day is always a bit searching.
"There are some good riders who will get better as the week goes on. We’ll have to defend first place, we’ll defend everything, you’ll see and hopefully we’ll end up on top."
While there is a stellar field of riders in London, De Ketele explained he sees the second placed as the most dangerous contenders for the win.
"I think we should be thinking about our fellow countrymen Iljo Keisse and Gijs Van Hoecke," De Ketele said. "They’re really going well and I think they are one of the teams that will get better. Other teams like the Spanish are really strong, as well as Yoeri Havik and Niki Terpstra.
"It’s far from over yet. As leaders you always have to do extra work and you’ll always get attacked so it’s not easy."
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