The excitement was palpable at the Lotto Six Days of Flanders-Ghent. Jules Hesters and Yoeri Havik are still in the lead after the third night. The Belgian Dutch pair are just one point ahead of Madison World Champions Fabio Van Den Bossche and Lindsay De Vylder.
The first points race of the evening went to Gianluca Pollefliet. Thibaut Bernard was the best in the second points race. In the subsequent team elimination race, Kluge and Teutenberg were faster than Van Den Bossche and De Vylder in the sprint.
In the time trial lap, all eyes were on specialists Gianluca Pollefliet and Noah Vandenbranden, but after two victories, they were beaten on the third night by Tom Crabbe and Mark Stewart.
At this point, Van den Bossche and De Vylder had crept past Hesters and Havik in the interim standings, although the gap between the two teams was only a mere point just before the start of the first Madison of the night.
In the Madison Madness, the top teams kept each other firmly in their sights. With eight laps to go, the World Champions accelerated. Hesters and Havik countered and in a sprint between the two, Hesters proved to be the strongest. That was enough for the win and the accompanying twenty points. And so, the rankings changed again.
Hattrick for Crabbe and Stewart
After Loredana’s musical interlude, tradition dictated that the dernys kicked off the second part of the evening. The flowers went to Yoeri Havik and Jasper De Buyst under the approving eye of Iljo – Kaiser of the Kuipke – Keisse. In the individual elimination race, Crabbe took his second victory of the night.
Good things come in threes. And that also applied to the fast Flanders Baloise sprinter. In the 500-metre time trial, Crabbe and Stewart were once again on top form. For the third evening in a row, they recorded the fastest time.
The final Madison went to Van den Bossche and De Vylder. Havik and Hesters took second place with a total of 191 points. Their lead over the World Champions is only one point. Jasper De Buyst and Elia Viviani follow in the same lap with 41 points.
