Mark Cavendish took his first win of the 2019 season on Tuesday in the opening round of the Six Days of London.

The 34-year-old Cavendish held off Caleb Ewan in a 40-lap derny race to the finish. Yuan led the race until one lap to go, when Cavendish passed the rider of Lotto Soudal for the win. Andreas Muller finished third.

"It was tough. I was at the back of the pack, trying to figure out what was going on with everyone," said Cavendish, who rode behind veteran Delny pilot Michel Wahlten.

"Caleb jumped earlier than I expected and it was tight right up to the line. I was lucky that Michael was there. We've been racing together for years now and it feels good."

Cavendish has had a frustrating season on the road this year. He told reporters in May that he had recovered from the Epstein-Barr virus that had plagued him for the past two years, but was not selected for the Tour de France in July after Dimension Data manager Doug Ryder overruled his own sports director, who had initially selected the Manxman He was not.

Since then, Cavendish has gradually rebuilt his form and conditioning in the second half of the season; he will sign with Bahrain-Merida for the 2020 season, but for now he is concentrating on the track and enjoying the London Six Day experience. In mid-November he will compete in the Iljo Caisse He plans to compete in the Ghent Sixes with.

"London is always great. We got a great welcome from the crowd when we came out and it was great." The Italian pair of Elia Viviani and Simone Consonni also competed in the Team Elimination, where they finished fourth. In the Madison Chase, Americans Adrian Hegyvary and Daniel Holloway won.

However, after one night of racing, Brian Coquard and Donavan Grondin took the overall lead, with Cavendish and Doull dropping to seventh. Racing continues on Wednesday for day two.