After a 35-year absence, the Sixdays returned the British capital, London, on Sunday with an omnium race. This somewhat unusual start to a Sixdays was made necessary to allow those riders who took part in the European Madison Championship in Grenchen, Switzerland, on Sunday to participate in London as well.

On Monday, the Sixdays got under way in earnest and if yesterday’s action was an indication of things to come, we will witness a Belgian triumph when the race finishes on Friday. The first Madison of the night was won by the Belgian constellation Kenny De Ketele and Moreno De Pauw and this team continued to dominate the field, as they were the first team to win a second lap during the second Madison of the evening. Overall, they lead the race as a result of their points tally. There is still a long way to go, but this Belgian team may well be the duo to beat for anyone wishing to leave London as the first winners since Aussie team Danny Clark and Don Allan ran away with victory back in 1980.

In second place compatriots Iljo Keisse and Gijs Van Hoecke are hot on their heels. Iljo Keisse is the most successful among the active Sixdays riders and he will be looking to put all of his experience to good use and secure a triumphant beginning to this new season. The pair consisting of Dane Lasse Norman Hansen and Dutchman Pim Ligthart rounds up the podium. Those three pairs are all on the same lap, as are home crowd favourites German Burton and Mark Stewart.

The prestigious team elimination was won by the Danes Marc Hester and Alex Rasmussen, the latter being the most successful Sixdays rider during last season. Apart from this notable triumph, the Danish team had a rather quiet evening, as did Dutchmen Terpstra and Havik. Losing a lap on the opening evening is by no means disastrous but the pressure is already on for these two teams as they cannot afford to cede further ground to the two Belgian teams that looked powerful and in control on Monday night.

General classification

1. Kenny De Ketele - Moreno De Pauw (Belgium) 62

2. Iljo Keisse - Gijs Van Hoecke (Belgium) 48

3. Lasse Norman Hansen (Denmark) - Pim Ligthart (Holland) 16

4. Germain Burton - Mark Stewart (Great Britain) 14

At 1 lap

5. Chris Latham - Oliver Wood (Great Britain) 42

6. Alex Rasmussen - Marc Hester (Denmark) 34

7. Niki Terpstra - Yoeri Havik (Holland) 21

8. Stefan Schäfer - Christian Grasman (Germany) 8

9. David Muntaner - Albert Torres (Spain) 7

10. Sebastian Wotschke - Achim Burkart (Germany) 2

11. Ivan Kovalev (Russia) - Melvin Van Zijl (Holland) 2

At 2 laps

12. Morgan Kneisky (France) - Lucas Liss (Germany) 25

13. Michael Mørkøv - Jesper Mørkøv (Denmark) 10

14. Jasper Asselman - Welsey Kreder (Holland) 5

15. Jacob Duehring - Daniel Holloway (USA) 4

16. Glenn O’Shea (Australia) - Adam Blythe (Great Britain) 0

17. Andreas Müller - Andreas Graf (Austria) 0

At 4 laps

18. Chris Lawless (Great Britain) - Denis Rugovac (Czech Republic) 0