Mark Cavendish produces outstanding ride to place second in omnium individual pursuit
Mark Cavendish set the fastest time so far in the individual pursuit in the men's omnium... until Denmark's Lasse Norman Hansen set a new Olympic Record
The standings in the omnium were shaken up by the 4km individual pursuit, as Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) set what looked like being the the fastest time.
However, a new Olympic Record from Lasse Norman Hansen (bettering the one set by Bradley Wiggins at Beijing 2008) won the event.
Hansen now leads overall after victory in the pursuit was added to his win in the scratch race earlier in the evening.
Lasse Norman Hansen (DEN) sets a new Olympic record in the 4km individual pursuit discipline during the omnium. Photo: Graham Watson
The Manxman went head-to-head with former trade teammate Fernando Gaviria (Colombia), but caught and passed the present pursuit world champion during the 4km race.
Cavendish is not normally associated with the pursuit, preferring the more explosive disciplines of the omnium.
Both riders had the early benchmark of Elia Viviani (Italy) to aim for as they completed 16 laps of the velodrome.
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Cavendish went out fast and held the pace for the whole ride but his leading time only lasted for a short period before Hansen set the new record and won the second omnium event.
The riders face the elimination race to finish the track cycling session on Sunday August 14, with the final three events split across the two sessions on Monday.
Jack Elton-Walters hails from the Isle of Wight, and would be quick to tell anyone that it's his favourite place to ride. He has covered a varied range of topics for Cycling Weekly, producing articles focusing on tech, professional racing and cycling culture. He moved on to work for Cyclist Magazine in 2017 where he stayed for four years until going freelance. He now returns to Cycling Weekly from time-to-time to cover racing, review cycling gear and write longer features for print and online.
