No sign of brakes put on year of glory as Katie takes another London win

Milngavie's Katie Archibald retained her title as queen of Six Day London with another dominant performance on the final day to pick up a second crown in a row.
Katie Archibald (right) on her way to winning the London Six Day (pic by Drew Kaplan)Katie Archibald (right) on her way to winning the London Six Day (pic by Drew Kaplan)
Katie Archibald (right) on her way to winning the London Six Day (pic by Drew Kaplan)

The reigning women’s champion came into the final day with a 53-point advantage over 2016 runner-up Neah Evans and never looked in danger of surrendering her lead.

She rode the final madison with professional teammate Lydia Boylan and despite finishing second behind Evans and Emily Nelson, she took the overall win by 55 points from her fellow Scot.

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“The first year Six Day London was run, my teammate Sarah Storey was riding so I knew all about it, and I’ve got in on the action from there and it’s been going well,” said the 23-year-old.

Katie on the London podium after her victoryKatie on the London podium after her victory
Katie on the London podium after her victory

“The madison was screw up after screw up on my part. I had some really horrible moments and I could hear the commentator in my head - I’m glad for the madison experience but there’s a lot to build on.

“Racing against your training partners doesn’t help with the training because people remember when you flipped them once and they think you’re due one back!

“And it can also be a hindrance because you know the strengths of your teammates and focus on them, often overlooking a rider you don’t race against or train with so often.

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“But that’s the same with every rival, you just have to turn it off.

Katie on the London podium after her victoryKatie on the London podium after her victory
Katie on the London podium after her victory

“And the crowd helps. It’s amazing. You get a taste for it when you go to someone else’s home track and you can tell instantly when a home rider goes on the attack.

“You feel envious of it. We had that last week at the Europeans and it feels so good this week to be on the home side of it.”

Archibald had begun the women’s competition by winning two of three races on the opening day and followed it up by winning the UCI omnium.

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That meant she went into the final day in a strong position and despite failing to register a win on the final day – finishing fourth in the scratch race and second in the madison with Team WNT colleague Boylan – she still comfortably held off the challenge of housemate Evans.

Archibald - who is among the nominations for the Scottish Women in Sport Sportswoman of the Year Award to be announced next week - will now prepare for next month’s Track World Cup event in Manchester, where she will ride the team pursuit fresh from a silver medal - and two individual golds - in the recent European Championships.

“The plan for Manchester is to try and do a better Madison and hopefully ride the omnium as well, so that’s a special treat for the crowd,” she said.

“We’ll see what we can do in the team pursuit because this will be our first international outside of Europe.

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“We’re still trying to develop day-in day-out with the current squad, so I’m excited about that.”

Tickets for Six Day London 2018 go on general sale on November 1 at 11am. For more information go to www.sixday.com

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