Six-day racing returns to London this month - tickets still available (+ video)

The velodrome at the Lee Valley VeloPark will host some of the world’s top track cyclists later this month as London plays host to a six-day track meet for the first time in more than three decades.

Among the riders taking part will be Belgian track specialist Iljo Keisse, Niki Terpstra of the Netherlands and Denmark’s Alex Rasmussen, as well as British talent including Adam Blythe and Germain Burton.

Women’s racing also features on the programme on three of the nights, with riders including Dani King and Dame Sarah Storey, both of whom won gold on the same track at London 2012.

First devised in Islington in 1878 and hugely popular in the United States at the turn of the last century – the Madison is named after Madison Square Garden – six-day racing is still a big draw in Europe but has been absent from London since 1980.

- Back home - 6 day racing returns to London this October (+ videos)

Entertainment off the track is as much a part of its appeal as the racing on it, and this month’s event will feature music from Ministry of Sound and will also be screened live on Eurosport.

Double world Madison champion Mark Cavendish, who is an ambassador for the event, had hoped to compete but instead will be among the spectators as a result of the injury he sustained at the Tour of Britain last month which cut short his season.

He said: “There’s an ambience about a Six Day event which is hard to describe. It’s like a party with some cycling going on!

“It’s a great field, some of the top racers around and is going to be a fantastic event.”

The event takes place from Sunday 18 to Friday 23 October and tickets can be bought through Ticketmaster.

Full details of the programme can be found on the Six Day website, and below you’ll find a list of the riders competing, arranged by pairs in the case of the men’s elite team competition.

Elite Men’s Teams

Morgan Kneisky (FRA) and
Lucas Liss (GER)

Michael Morkov (DNK) and
Jesper Morkov (DNK)

Iljo Keisse (BEL) and
Gijs Van Hoecke (BEL)

Glenn O’Shea (AUS) and
Adam Blythe (GBR)

Alex Rasmusen (DNK) and
Mark Hester (DNK)

Germain Burton (GBR) and
Mark Stewart (GBR)

Chris Latham (GBR) and
Ollie Wood (GBR)

Niki Terspstra (NLD) and
Yoeri Havik (NLD)

Stefan Schafer (GER) and
Christian Grasman (GER)

Sebastian Wotschke (GER) and
Achim Burkart (GER)

Jasper Asselman (NLD) and
Welsey Kreder (NLD)

Lasse-Norman Hansen (DNK) and
Martyn Irvine (IRL)

David Muntaner (ESP) and
Albert Torres (ESP)

Ivan Kovalev (RUS) and
Melvin van Zijl (NLD)

Chris Lawless (GBR) and
Denis Rugivac (CZE)

Andreas Muller (AUT) and
Andreas Graf (AUT)

Jacob Duehring (USA) and
Daniel Holloway (USA)

Kenny De Ketele (BEL) and
Moreno De Pauw (BEL)

Elite Women Riders

Laura Basso (ITA)
Janine Bubner (GER)
Tela Crane (USA)
Verena Eberhardt (AUT)
Charline Joiner (GBR)
Romy Kasper (GER)
Dani King (GBR)
Lisa Kulmer (GER)
Judith Leth (DNK)
Jarmila Machacova (CZE)
Tatjana Paller (GER)
Alzbeta Pavlendova (SLK)
Stephanie Pohl (GER)
Christine Robson (GBR)
Anita Yvonne Stenberg (NOR)
Sarah Storey (GBR)
Amalie Winther-Olson (DEN)
Malgorzata Wojtyra (POL)

Elite Men Sprinters

Tomas Babek (CZE)
Denis Dmitriev (RUS)
Nate Koch (USA)
Kazunari Watanabe (JPN)
Matthew Rotherham (GBR)
Thomas Rotherham (GBR)