Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys will defend their title at the 82nd edition of the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent from 14 to 19 November. They will compete against 11 other top Belgian and international duos, including Dutchmen Yoeri Havik and Jan-Willem van Schip. The Belgians are eager to beat the Madison World Champions in front of their own audience. The packed Kuipke will also welcome a Belgian World Champion as Lotte Kopecky will be in action next Friday and Saturday.
The 12 teams starting on Tuesday feature three all-Belgian teams, with Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys leading the way. The 28-year-old from East Flanders won the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent for the first time last year whereas it was the third overall victory already for the 26-year-old from Limburg, following two previous victories with Kenny De Ketele. Noah Vandenbranden/Tuur Dens and Fabio Van den Bossche/Jules Hesters are also all-Belgian duos that will be performing at the Kuipke next week.
After the withdrawal of injured Benjamin Thomas, Hesters will now be Van den Bossche’s buddy, while New Zealand’s Points Race World Champion Aaron Gate will be paired with Dane Mathias Malmberg. Another Dane, Lasse Norman Hansen, is Jonas Rickaert’s teammate next week; Gianluca Pollefliet is paired with German Tim Torn Teutenberg in the 82nd Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent. The ninth and last Belgian participating is Milan van den Haute. The winner of the 2022 U23 AVS Cup will have experienced Italian Michele Scartezzini at his side.
There are another five international duos: Dutchmen Yoeri Havik and Jan-Willem van Schip, their compatriots Vincent Hoppezak and Philip Heijnen, Germans Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt, Brits Mark Stewart and Oliver Wood and Frenchmen Oscar Nilsson-Julien and Valentin Tabellion. Kluge and Reinhardt are the reigning Madison European Champions, Havik and van Schip the reigning World Champions and Stewart and Wood are the silver medal holders of the past World Championships in Glasgow. Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys were in pole position for gold for a long time in Scotland, but just missed the podium coming fourth in the end.
Ghys: “Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Gent is top of my list of important races”
“Three months later, the World Championships are still like an open wound for me,” said De Vylder. Ghys adds: “It’s more like a double leg break. I well up just thinking about it.” Will it hurt to see Havik and van Schip riding in the rainbow jerseys at Kuipke next week? “The confrontation is going to hurt,” De Vylder said, “but they deserve it. I am at peace with the fact that they won. It’s mainly my own loss that bothers me.” Ghys: “You can’t ignore that something like that will hurt. Until the penultimate sprint, I thought we would be in their place. But I have beaten World Champions in the past. In Ghent, I will do all I can to do that again. It is not the same as a World title, but the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent is also at the top of my list of important races.”
Sofie Bracke and Iljo Keisse to sound starting shot
Ghent Councillor for Sport Sofie Bracke and ‘Kaiser of the Kuipke’ Iljo Keisse, who rode his last Ghent Six Days last year, will sound the official starting shot of the 82nd Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Gent on Tuesday 14 November at 8:25pm.
