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Aussie pairing Sam Welsford and Cameron Scott hold the lead at Six Day Melbourne after the second night of racing.
Welsford and Scott put in a powerhouse final sprint in the Madison to edge out their nearest rivals Shane Archbold and Aaron Gate on Friday night (February 8).
Kiwis Archbold and Gate sit just 25 points behind Welsford and Scott heading into the third and final night.
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Annette Edmondson further tightened her grip on the women’s competition, teaming up with Alex Manly and dominating both of the night’s races.
Speaking after the conclusion of day two, Welsford said: “Luckily enough I had good legs for the final sprint – Cameron set me up perfectly leading up to it and I managed to hold the rest of them off.”
Scott added: “We’re all really good mates off the bike, but once we get on the track, it’s all down to the racing.
“That kind of friendly rivalry comes into play.”
Welsford and Scott lead on 170 points, followed by Archbold and Gate on 145 and Henning Bommel and Kersten Thiele in third on 138.
Bommel and Thiele took the opening Madison of the night, while Leigh Howard and Kelland O’Brien took the team elimination.
American Shane Kline was victorious in the points race and rising Australian star Godfrey Slattery was the fastest man in the 250m Madison time trial.
Annette Edmondson and Alex Manly perfectly timed a late lap in the Madison and were ruthless in the team elimination to dominate the women’s racing.
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After the elimination race, Edmondson said: “It’s chaotic even by yourself, but when you’ve got another team-mate to think about and you’re looking over the wheels, it can get pretty mess out there.
“But the talent in Australia is getting a lot better and that definitely helps.”
Manly said: “We planned it well and we knew our change was after [the others].
“We had a good run in the wheels and we had our timing perfect.”
Edmondson leads on 170 points, Amy Cure follows on 148 with Manly trailing on 134.
The sprinter competition is still wide open heading into the final night, with James Brister extending his lead on Friday.
The young Australian was second fastest in the flying lap TT behind compatriot Tom Clarke, who was the first rider in the competition to clock a sub-10 second time.
In the head-to-head sprinters, the young guns bested some older hands as Malaysian Shah Sahrom beat Shane Perkins and Tom Cornish took victory over Azizulhasni Awang.
Sahrom took a keirin glory ahead of Awang and Brister.
Brister now leads the competition with 94 points, ahead of Clarke on 84 and Perkins on 76.
The racing continues on the final night, Saturday (February 9).
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The Six Day Series is heading to Manchester between 22-24 March 2019. See some of the world’s best riders including Olympic and World Champions.
