Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys continued on with their winning ways at the Gent Six Day, entering the final day of racing at the 82nd edition of the event in pole position and then clinching the victory in a tight battle through the final Madison.
The virtual lead changed hands multiple times during the last event at the ‘t Kuipke velodrome. The pairings of Van den Bossche and Jules Hesters as well as Yoeri Havik and Jan-Willem van Schip both moved into the top spot before De Vylder and Ghys finally took back a lap and secured the victory. Havik and Van Schip ultimately came second, with Van den Bossche and Hesters third.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed this week,” said Ghys, after taking his second win with De Vylder and fourth in total. “It does come with a lot of stress, but I still very much look forward to riding here every year. I also have to thank Lindsay so much, he was by far the best of the two of us this week.”
Ghys (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was coming back from injury, ending his road season early at the Vuelta a España as while he made it through a first week crash in the end the issues he was having with saddle sores proved insurmountable.
“When you win the Six Days four times in a row, you are a class act,” said De Vylder (Flanders Baloise) in praise of his teammate. “And the crowd was great once again too. I rode around with goosebumps for six days.”
The three teams that made the podium all entered the final day on the same lap and while there was some to and fro with the virtual top spots during the final Madison, De Vylder and Ghys claimed were clear winners with 354 points. That compared to 245 for Havik and Van Schip while Van den Bossche and Hesters had a final total of 280 points and a lap behind.
The British duo of Elliot Rowe and William Salter swept up the U23 AVS cup ahead of Denmark’s Albert Hold and Peter Bheki Laursen as Belgian duo Nolan Huysmans and Thibaut Bernard were third.
The Gent Six Day also included a number of other events, with Lotte Kopecky winning the elimination and points race convincingly when she raced among a 12-strong field of competitors during the Fashion For Cycling Ladies Cup on Friday.