It is the “decathlon of track riders”, even if it includes only six disciplines. This evening, the winner of the Omnium, which first made its appearance at the London Olympics three years ago, was crowned the “king of the track racers”. The competition takes place over two days, and requires the athletes to do all six very events well. The points range between 40 for the winner and two for whomever is in last place, in five disciplines: Scratch, 4km Individual Pursuit, Elimination Race, Kilometer Time Trial, and Flying Lap, before the great reckoning begins in the final Points Race.

Elia Viviani, who managed to be in the top-5 in all events except in the Scratch Race, took 170 points into the showdown as the leader, followed by Tim Veldt with 164, and Olympic champion Lasse Norman Hansen with 156 points. His lead was deceptive padding since for 160 laps, the Italian had to defend himself against numerous attacks. Even riders who seemed already defeated such as the Englishman Jonathan Dibben still proved to be dangerous because he profited from his freedom as a lower-placed competitor and took advantage of that to win laps. It was up to the Italian’s quick legs and clear head in order not to make any mistakes in his arithmetic.

In the end, he succeeded perfectly: with a third place in the final sprint, he gained the two points that brought him even with Hansen, who had dislodged Viviani from the top of the leader board with a round win (20 points). According to the rules in the case of the points being tied, the rider who crosses the finish line ahead of the rider he is tied with, wins the contest. And with that, Viviani took the event, and increased his reputation as a proven all-rounder. He has won four European titles in four different events (Omnium, Points Race, Madison and Derny). He has also proved himself on the road, most specifically this past spring when he won a stage in the Giro, and even more recently when he won two stages at the Abu Dhabi Tour just two weeks ago.