Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys go into Sunday’s final day of the 82nd Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent in pole position. With Fabio Van den Bossche/Jules Hesters and Yoeri Havik/Jan-Willem van Schip, two teams are still in the same lap.
Van den Bossche and Hesters experienced a top day Saturday. Friday evening, they were ‘only’ fifth in the ranking two laps behind leaders De Vylder/Ghys, but 24 hours later they were in second place, on the same lap as the defending Champions.
In Saturday’s first team race, Van den Bossche and Hesters struck a big blow. They took a winning lap over De Vylder/Ghys and Havik/van Schip and also got a bonus lap for crossing the 200-point mark. The Dutch also earned a bonus lap for the 200-point cap.
Earlier in the evening, Van den Bossche and Hesters managed to keep De Vylder and Ghys from winning the track lap for the first time this week, and later in the evening Van den Bossche also won a Derny race. The other Derny race was won by Havik.
Tuur Dens also impressed again on Saturday with two wins: in the points race and ‘of course’ also in the 500 metres. Paced by Noah Vandenbranden, he set the track record for the fourth time this week. 26. 052 is the new top time. Dens had gone so deep in the sweltering Kuipke that he was absent for the second and concluding Madison of the evening.
In that Madison, all the big guns kept each other in check. Aaron Gate and Matias Malmberg took the win. The other winners Saturday: Oscar Nilsson-Julien won the first points race and Milan van den Haute set the Kuipke ablaze by triumphing in the individual elimination.
Three teams go into Sunday’s final day in the same lap. De Vylder and Ghys lead with 297 points and are thus close to a bonus lap. Van den Bossche and Hesters are second with 227 points and Havik and van Schip third with 221 points. Oscar Nilsson/Julien (167 points) and Aaron Gate/Matias Malmberg (146 points) follow with two laps as fourth and fifth.
