The first duo of the 80th edition of the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Gent has been announced. Kenny De Ketele and Robbe Ghys will be defending their 2019 title from 16 until 21 November. It will be De Ketele’s last Six Days in the Kuipke. The 36-year-old from East Flanders will be hanging up his bike at the end of this year.
Kenny De Ketele was the best of the Lotto Six Days of Flanders-Ghent on four occasions. In 2011, on the side of German Robert Bartko, in 2014, Jasper De Buyst was his team mate, in 2017, Moreno De Pauw and two years ago, ‘Ketelke’ formed a winning duo with Robbe Ghys. Thanks to those four wins, De Ketele shares sixth place in the ranking for eternity with Rik Van Steenbergen, Peter Post and Eddy Merckx. Furthermore, De Ketele also came second five times and third twice at the Ghent Six Days.
36-year-old De Ketele, who made his debut as a professional rider 17 years ago, and 24-year-old Ghys have been regular buddies on the track for a couple of years. At the last Olympic Games in Tokyo they defended the Belgian tricolour in the team pursuit. They grabbed fourth place, which meant they just missed out on a medal in Japan.
After the Six Days of Rotterdam at the start of December, De Ketele will hang up his bike, but it goes without saying that this figurehead of Belgian track cycling – World Champion Team Pursuit in 2012 and with a track record of 21 Six Days wins in total – will be feted in style in his home town of Ghent for his fantastic career.
Last Tickets For Sale
The 80th edition of the Lotto Six Days of Flanders-Ghent will take place from Tuesday 16 until Sunday 21 November. There are still tickets available for some of the days, both for the centre bowl and for the stands. There are also still a few VIP arrangements available for companies and their employees or clients.
