Brits Latham and Tennant accelerate into second at the London Six Day

Andy Tennant and Chris Latham moved from Sixth to second after a breathless night of racing at the London Six on Friday.

Having taken overall lead after winning the opening Madison chase of the night, the British pairing came under intense pressure in the final chase and did well to slip only one place, finishing the day one place behind Madison world champions Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt.

That final event was won by Polish riders Wojciech Pszczolarski Daniel Staniszewski, who raced intelligently all night and moved into third overall. 

With the Australian and Dutch teams dropping down the standings, only four teams are on the same lap at the head of the race.

The British women rode aggressively and intelligently in the Omnium, on their first night of competition. That led to Emily Nelson taking an excellent third place behind winner Kirsten Wild and Australian Georgia Baker.

How it happened

The men’s endurance events began with the top six teams on general classification taking it easy. All were excluded early in the Team Elimination event, apparently saving themselves for later. Seven laps down, Henning Bommel and Kersten Thiele took the win.

In the opening Madison, Brits Chris Latham and Andy Tennant rode the perfect race to take top spot overall. Joined by compatriots Adam Blythe and Jon Dibben they took an early lap, though were soon followed by other top ranked teams.

However, the Brits took another lap late on and were able to sit on their rivals’ wheels and take the sprint and the accompanying points to aid their bid for overall success. 

Britain’s Fred Wright attacked the night’s opening Derny race from the gun. His partner Joe Nally was not racing due to illness so the 19 year-old had sat out the earlier Madison and was fresh. His brave effort fell short though, and he managed only second after Irishman Fintan Ryan took the win.

Having identified the importance of points at the top of the classification, Tennant spent the Points race chipping away at the team’s points deficit, work which later ensured their second place. Meanwhile Wright came close to winning though he once again finished second, this time behind New Zealander Aaron Gate.

Australian Josh Harrison won a fabulous final Derny race, coming past Jon Dibben in the closing metres. Despite losing his Derny on the final lap, Latham’s third place finally brought his team’s points tally level with the highest scorers before he and Tenant held on in the final Madison.

The women’s Omnium opened the night with a cagey 7.5km scratch race and few concerted attacks. This should have played into Wild’s hands, but it was Baker who won the sprint to take an early lead.

Wild finished second to Brit Emily Nelson in the Tempo race, moving her into joint first with Baker and another Australian, Ashlee Ankudinoff.

Ankudinoff was one of the early riders excluded from the Elimination race which once again came to a fight between Wild and Baker, and it was the Australian who came out on top taking a lead into the final event.

A breathless Points race decided the Omnium. While British road champion Jess Roberts and Australian Amy Pauwels took 20 points for taking a lap, it was not enough to prevent Wild and Baker fighting for the overall.

Heading into the final sprint the Australian led by ja single second, but it was Wild who won, finishing third in the final sprint ahead of Baker.  

It was as you were for the Eisberg sprinters, Germans Max Levy and Robert Förstemann taking the top places in qualifying. Levy’s 200 metre qualifying time of 10.004 the fastest of the week so far, but he was unable to prevent Förstemann taking his second win of the week.

One again, Briton Alex Spratt was the best of the rest, while Shane Perkins took the Keirin.

Phynova London Six Day - Standings after day four

1. Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt (Ger) 0 laps, 277 points

2. Chris Latham and Andy Tennant (Gbr) 0 laps 269 points

3. Wojciech Pszczolarski Daniel Staniszewski (Pol) 0 laps, 266 points

4. Marc Hester and Jesper Mørkøv (den) 0 points, 259 points

5. Yoeri Havik and Wim Stroetinga (Ned) -1 lap, 275 points

6. Leigh Howard and Kelland O’Brien (Aus) -1 lap, 271 points

7. Jules Hesters and Otto Vergaerde (Bel) -2 laps, 240 points

8. Nick Stöpler and Melvin Van Zijl (Ned) -2 laps 213 points

9. Andreas Graf and Andreas Müller (Aut) -2 laps, 141 points

10. Shane Archbold and Aaron Gate (NZ) -9 laps, 193 pointsnbsp;