Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys have chalked up 243 points and start the weekend of the 83rd Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent as leaders. Jules Hesters/Aaron Gate (211) and Fabio Van den Bossche/Benjamin Thomas (208) are the other two duos on the same lap.
The fourth night at Ghent’s Kuipke got underway with two points races. Dutchman Yanne Dorenbos and Sebastian Mora Vedri picked up the bouquets of flowers.
The Spaniard did so in style. He lapped everyone and did not just take the win in the second points race, but also a bonus lap. The connoisseurs showed their appreciation and clapped loudly.
De Vylder and Ghys gathered another twenty important points by winning the team elimination. In the track lap, Noah Vandenbranden and Gianluca Pollefliet again stood out as the time trial specialists of the week. Fourth win in a row in this test for the young duo.
Doublette
Next on the programme was the Memorial Patrick Sercu, a one-hour Madison. A little over halfway through, De Vylder and Ghys charged with a ‘Doublette’. In a blistering final, Van Den Bossche and Thomas attacked the Belgian pair’s leading position. They impressively won the Madison, but De Vylder and Ghys held on to first place in the ranking.
A leadership position they did not relinquish even after the break. The Derny races were a Dutch affair with wins for Vincent Hoppezak and Philip Heijnen. Jules Hesters had the home crowd praying for and getting a triumph in the individual elimination.
The final wins of the evening went to Roger Kluge (scratch) and French duo Oscar Nilsson-Julien/Valentin Tabellen.
Defending champions De Vylder and Ghys (243 points) started the weekend with a nice lead of 32 points over Hesters and Gate and 35 over Van den Bossche and Thomas. Yoeri Havik and Vincent Hoppezak (198 points/ minus 2 laps), miss out on a podium place for now.
