Tom Pidcock led the way at Wembley Park for Team WIGGINS in his British Circuit Race Champion’s  jersey to take the race victory, but it was Madison Genesis who closed the gap at the top of the OVO Energy Tour Series standings to a single point behind Canyon Eisberg, as the unique team-based Series heads to Salisbury for its Grand Final on Thursday (31 May).

The Team WIGGINS rider headed home Connor Swift (Madison Genesis) despite a final corner scare that saw the pair almost crash, with Pidcock commenting afterwards that: “I unclipped coming around the final corner so I was on the back foot.  Luckily Connor was going at the same speed, so I put my feet back in and just got him over the line.”

Madison Genesis placed all of their riders in the top nine to claim a dominant team victory on the night. Behind, Emils Liepins led home the main group for third spot for ONE Pro Cycling, as his team finished runners-up.

Third spot in the team competition on the night saw Canyon Eisberg remain in the OVO Energy green jerseys, but now with just a one-point advantage over Madison Genesis, while defending champions JLT Condor slipped back to third, six points behind and now looking unlikely to take a third-successive title.

“We had a pretty robust conversation with the boys yesterday; I laid it on the line and said ‘it’s do or die’. We had to go into tonight to just dominate and ride as hard as we could and as clever as we were able to,” said Madison Genesis manager Colin Sturgess afterwards. “And the guys did it. You can’t ask for more.

“We had a plan and we knew what we wanted to do. You can’t ask for more when a plan comes to fruition. Canyon had a bit of misfortune with Hank [James Lowsley-Williams] having a couple of bike changes, but that’s bike racing. It happens, and it happened to us when we had a shocker of a round yesterday – things just didn’t go right for us. It’s going to be a very, very exciting final in Salisbury.”

In the women’s race, Team Breeze saw their advantage trimmed to just three points over NJC-BiemmeEchelon, with Storey Racing a further point behind.  Team OnForm though were the top performers, winning the team prize on the night for the first time thanks to Anna Henderson (who overcame a crash on the neutralised lap) and Charmaine Porter finishing second and third in the race.

Storey’s Ejay Harris took the race win on the night – lapping all five of the Team Breeze entrants – to repeat her 2017 victory in similarly wet conditions at Croydon a few miles north.

“It was certainly very technical today and it’s really tempting to push the pace on those corners but they’re so slippy that it’s not worth it,” said the Storey Racing rider afterwards.

“I paced myself well and it was quite fortunate the way the course is designed that you could have a look behind on your own gap – so I was happy with the way I rode.

“I wouldn’t say I like them [wet weather conditions] more than the sun, I just seem to like them a bit more than others so they work to my advantage.

Despite being one of a number of riders to tumble in the slippy conditions, Nikki Juniper (NJC-Biemme-Echelon) finished fourth in the individual rankings and now holds an unassailable lead in the Eisberg Points jersey standings. 

JLT Condor’s Matt Gibson still leads the men’s classification, despite missing the evening following a crash on Monday night in Stevenage, after his nearest rival Robert Scott (WIGGINS) failed to pick up any points at Wembley Park.

Highlights from Wembley Park will be shown on ITV4 on Thursday (31 May) at 23:00 and are repeated on Friday at 07:30. UK viewers can find ITV on Freeview (24), Freesat (117), Virgin Media (118) and Sky (120).

Although the women’s title looks to be heading to Team Breeze, there’s still plenty to play for at our Grand Final in Salisbury on Thursday. As well as hosting our first-ever Wiltshire round in the OVO Energy Tour Series’ 10-year history, our visit to the Cathedral City will show the world that it is open for business following events there earlier in 2018.

Click here for full round results from Wembley Park.