Multiple European Track Champion writes history together with Simone Consonni on the Lee Valley Park Velodrome.
Elia Viviani and Simone Consonni put in a stunning recovery on the final night of the Six Days of London and became the first ever Italian team to win the prestigious event, in front of thousands of feverish fans who made an electric atmosphere.
Third overall after five days of spectacular and intense racing, Viviani and Consonni were on a mission Sunday evening, when they lined up at the start knowing they had to erase the one-lap deficit separating them from the top of the leaderboard. The Elimination, Time Trial and Derny didn’t deliver any significant changes to the general classification, meaning that it would be once again on the Madison that would play a decisive role in the final outcome.
Fresh off the back of success at the Apeldoorn European Championships, where he added a seventh gold medal to his outstanding palmares, Elia went all guns blazing right from the offe, taking back one lap and drawing level with the other three teams vying for overall glory in London. Attack continued at a rapid pace and for the most of the race, the two Italians were forced to come back from behind, not just to gain laps, but also to make sure they’d score enough points which could have proven vital in case of a tie.
Inside the final 20 minutes of an exciting night, as the Madison was coming down to crunch time, Viviani went all out and immediately opened a small gap on the chasers, which together with his teammate he managed to stretch to the point they lapped the peloton and moved into the provisional lead. For good measure, the duo picked up as many points possible on the last four sprint laps, before Elia expertly shut down a late attack with two laps remaining and surged to a memorable victory, which he sealed by emphatically taking the final sprint of the day.
“We wanted to be in the lead before the closing race, but that didn’t happen, so we had to change our tactic for the Madison. We felt strong and despite the flurry of attacks that came, we remained confident and poised to stick to our plan of trying something in the last 15-20 minutes, when we knew we could make the difference. It all worked perfectly and we can now celebrate this great and unforgettable win, which came after a crazy, challenging, and in the end, really beautiful week here in London”, an ecstatic Elia said after capturing the sixth triumph of his career in a six-day race.
Photo credit: ©Chris Graythen/ Getty Images
