Kalz and Lampater storm into Six Day London lead after Day One

The German pair finished fifth in the opening Madison chase, level on laps with winners of the final sprint, Dutchmen Yoeri Havik and Wim Stroetinga.

And a series of strong finishes in the timed events, taking second in the 250m Madison time trial, second in the team elimination races saw them stack up 78 points, to top the standings.

"It's definitely great, we didn't expect to have the lead today," said Lampeter.

"I thought we didn't have the legs in the chase, but we made a last-minute attack and it was the last chance to stay in the race.

"We gained the lap and at the end of the day caught a lot of points in every discipline, so we are actually in the lead - we didn't expect it but we're definitely happy.

"The other guys behind us will definitely go on the attack, but I hope they will look for each other and that is our chance to stay with them as long as possible.

"We definitely have the potential to keep up with the points."

Five teams sit level on laps at the top of the standings, with reigning champions Moreno de Pauw and Kenny de Ketele second on 71 points.

A further six points back are home duo Mark Cavendish and Sir Bradley Wiggins, who were welcomed into the Lee Valley VeloPark by rapturous applause from the heaving crowd.

Havik and Stroetinga sit in fifth place, with 47 points, and Stroetinga admitted he was surprised by their win in the opening Madison chase.

"It was pretty amazing, we didn't really expect that," said the 31-year-old.

"We just thought we'd see, maybe stay in the top five and see what we could do.

"We knew the sprint was coming and my legs were really good so Yoeri said ‘just try', so I tried and we won.

"We're feeling good. But it's only the first night, we'll see in three nights where we are, and where we can end."

It was an impressive night for the Swiss pairing of Tristan Marguet and Claudio Imhoff, showing their sprinting prowess to follow their 500m time trial heat victory by tasting further success – this time in the 250m Madison TT.

It seemed as though going early may have been a disadvantage to the duo, but their 12.921s proved unbeatable.

The duo suffered in the opening Madison chase though, losing two laps, and sit 11th in the standings.

"I didn't have good legs in the Madison," said Marquet. "I thought after it that my legs weren't good because we have just come from the European Championships with just one day's rest.

"But I hoped that later on I would have better legs and we saw that it was perfect.

"In the Madison TT the change was perfect and we won the 500m heat too, so it was good.

"Now we are two laps behind but we hope that in the Madison on Wednesday we have better legs and we can come back in the general classification, but we want to win the TTs again too."

In other Six Day action, Callum Scotson showed no beginner's nerves as he stole the limelight on his debut by winning the Longest Lap, helping he and partner Cameron Meyer into fourth overall, 18 points off the lead.

A test of balance, endurance and speed, Scotson showed all the necessary attributes to hold steady on his bike, then going on to win the one-lap sprint to take the points.

The night finished with British success as Andy Tennant led from the front to take a stunning victory in the 40-lap derny race, leaving him and teammate Chris Latham - last year's runner-up - in sixth.

And there was plenty of home success for the crowd to raise the roof to in the sprint competition, with Matt Rotherham – joined in the event by his brother Tom – unleashing an almighty comeback to overhaul Joachin Eilers and Max Levy by a dramatic photo finish.

Eilers bounced back though with a win in the 200m flying lap, before Trinidad and Tobago's Njisane Phillip took the final sprinters event of the night, the Keirin.

Earlier in the night German Moritz Augenstein and Austria's Stefan Mastaller took the 1878 Cup 40km Madison on the final sprint as Six Day London got off to a dramatic start.

It seemed as though Olly Moors and Matthias Van Beethoven, leading almost from the outset, would take the spoils, but Augenstein and Mastaller came through on the last of the 160 laps to clinch the first race.

Keeping themselves within touching distance throughout, Augenstein and Mastaller seemed to time their sprinting race perfectly, overturning the one point required to get the win, with two races to go.

"It takes a lot of pressure off to win the first race so we know where we stand and we know what we're after and from now on we can enjoy it," said Mastaller.

Sportsbeat 2016