Explaining Cycling, Part 2 of 6: Six-Day Racing

The six-days are the heart of track racing, and we're right in the middle of the season right now. The six-days are really a series of Madison races (see the explanation thereof in Part 1) with other track races (also explained in Part 1) between them. The six-day team consists of two riders who swap out racing the Madison and slowly riding around the top of the track. They swap places when the racer grabs the hand of the other rider and slings him up to race speed. Sprints for points are held every 20 laps, and the team on the lead lap with the most points at the end wins. Even if a team has more points, if they are a lap down, they do not win.