Elliot Rowe and William Salter have won the U23 AVS Cup. Second place in this Six Days of the Future went to Denmark’s Albert Holm/Peter Bheki Laursen. Belgians Nolan Huysmans and Thibaut Bernard completed the podium.
Rowe/Salter went into the final day with a 11-point lead on Holm/Laursen. The other teams followed at one or more laps. Huysmans and Bernard amassed by far the most points in the first five days, but to take the overall win they absolutely had to make up a lap.
Bernard and Laursen crashed early in the Madison, but fortunately without serious injury. After a short delay, they were able to get back on their bikes. Bernard’s legs were still good, because he and his buddy Huysmans launched an ultimate attack at 60 laps from the end. The two Belgians took a lead of up to half a lap, but they did not quite make it all the way around. Rowe/Salter and Holm/Laursen closed the gap.
Stan Dens and Tom Crabbe, two other Belgians, also tried to grab another winning lap that would have given them overall victory, but again the Brits and Danes responded wisely.
Rowe and Salter dotted the i’s and won the Madison by a point ahead of Holm and Laursen. In the final leader board, the difference between the two teams is 12 points: 67 for the Brits, 55 for the Danes. Huysmans and Bernard finished third with a lap fewer and 114 points, Dens and Crabbe fourth with 100 points.
