A rainbow sweeps through the Kuipke. World Champions Lindsay De Vylder and Fabio Van den Bossche took the lead on the fourth night of the Lotto Six Days of Flanders-Ghent. The duo has 243 points and a five-point lead over Yoeri Havik and Jules Hesters.
The fourth evening began with double success for the pair Milan Van den Haute/Clément Petit. After the Belgian had won the first points race, the Frenchman followed his teammate’s example. During the third event of the evening, the team elimination race, Fabio Van Den Bossche and Lindsay De Vylder took top spot. Good for a double victory, allowing the World Champions to take the lead from Yoeri Havik and Jules Hesters.
In the first time trial event of the evening, the track lap, Mark Stewart and Tom Crabbe once again lived up to their reputation. With a time of 8.531, they relegated the other specialists – Gianluca Pollefliet and Noah Vandenbranden – to second place again.
Before Axel Merckx sounded the starting shot of the Memorial Patrick Sercu, a full hour’s Madison, leaders De Vylder and Van den Bossche were constantly under attack, but the duo controlled the race completely and countered cleverly.
Their attention weakened momentarily, but Van Den Bossche and De Vylder’s legs managed to push hard enough for them to lap the others.
In the last five laps, we saw an attack from Jasper De Buyst/Elia Viviani, which proved to be the right move. Behind them, there was some hesitation, allowing them to sprint to victory in the Memorial Sercu.
Time Trial King Crabbe
Philip Heijnen impressed during the first derny race of the evening. The Dutchman had to pull over briefly with a broken handlebar but then rejoined the battle to claim victory.
After victories for Michele Scartezzini (individual elimination), Hesters (derny) and van den Bossche (scratch), the night ended with the 500-metre time trial. Led by Stewart, Crabbe achieved an impressive four in a row thereby instantly crowning the Brussels native the Time Trial King on his debut at the Lotto Six Days.
In the general classification, De Vylder and Van den Bossche enter the fourth night as leaders. The duo has 243 points and is five points clear of Havik and Hesters. De Buyst and Viviani have 194 points and are therefore close to a winning lap.
Two pairs are just one lap behind the leaders. They are the European Champions Yanne Dorenbos/Vincent Hoppezak (157 points) from the Netherlands and the Germans Roger Kluge/Tim Torn Teutenberg (151 points).
