RIO DE JANEIRO Mark Cavendish rode a wave of British track cycling gold to put himself in contention for the omnium race on Sunday with three disciplines remaining.
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But Hansen messed up the elimination race at the end of the day, being the first of the 18-rider field to be knocked out.
But he must have been inspired by what had gone on before, and he produced a time of 4min16.878secs, a time which was 10 seconds faster than what he did at the World Championships in London earlier this year.
Britain’s former queen of the track Victoria Pendleton – twice disqualified by the hawks in London four years ago, said on BBC Radio 5 Live: “That was an error in judgement from the judges”. Before the race, he was lying in third having shown decent form in the scratch race and then laying down a really strong individual pursuit.
However, he was cursing himself when he could finish only seventh in the elimination race when looking comfortable.
Olympic champion Lasse Norman Hansen had looked impressive, winning the 60-lap scratch race and setting a new Olympic record in the 4,000m individual pursuit to have maximum points after two events.
Mark Cavendish was furious after a flying start to his crusade for Olympic gold was cut short by a basic error.
The omnium concludes on Monday with the 1km time trial at just after 2.20pm BST, the flying lap at just after 8pm BST and the points race at 9.23pm BST. But he repaired some of the damage in the elimination race where he survived to the final three. “Everyone comes here full gas”.
Germany’s Roger Kluge and Colombia’s Gaviria are both six points behind Cavendish in fourth and fifth respectively.
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This is the ultimate track endurance test, cycling’s equivalent of a decathlon or heptathlon, pitting the world’s toughest track cyclists against each other in a multi-discipline two-day event.
