Preview: Six days of Ghent 2021

After a year of enforced absence due to the Corona pandemic, the six days of Ghent (Tuesday 16 – Sunday 21 November) are back on the agenda. The organization has managed to seduce many toppers to appear at the start, including husbands Kenny de Ketely and Rob Giss and Eligo Kisses Mark Cavendish and Olympic, world and European race champions.

date

For the earliest history of Lotto Six Days Vlaanderen-Ghent, as the competition is officially called, we must go back to 1922. On a 210-meter demountable indoor track in the Feestpaleis of the Citadelpark, Marcel Boys became the winner with the first-ever Swiss Egg Oscar. At the end of the 1920s, a new track was put into use, due to its small dimensions (166 m) and high curves, cockpit his name was. Partly due to a lack of funds, the six-day event was held only twice in the 1930s, and the event was banned by the German occupier during World War II.

After World War II, cycling rebounded and the six-day races began again. The “Ghent” became an annual event and legendary riders such as Rik Van Steenbergen and Rik Van Looy added their names to the honor roll. However, in 1962, Kuipke was destroyed by fire, which meant that the event was canceled for a few years. The bicycle course was not completely restored until 1965. Again, the 166-meter length and inclined curves were chosen with a gradient of up to 52%. With Patrick Sirko and Eddie Merckx, the new track immediately had two great winners.

For Sercu, it won’t stop at this victory. The Six Day Emperor After 1965 he also won in 1967, 1975 and 1977 alongside Merckx and also won in 1970 with Jean-Pierre Monseré, in 1971 with Roger De Vlaeminck, in 1972 with Julien Stevens, in 1973 with Australian Graeme Gilmore, in 1978 with Dutchman Jerry Knetemann, In 1980 with the German Albert Fritz and in 1981 with the Danish Geert Frank. Sercu is the record holder for the Ghent with eleven wins. Later, West Fleming, who died two months before his 75th birthday in 2019, became the race director for the six-day Ghent event.

Six Days in Ghent is closely related to Isaac Galvez. The Spanish runner fell onto the Koepki banister on the fifth day of 2006, after which he died on the way to Ghent University Hospital. The organization then suspended the competition and therefore there are no honor roll winners behind that edition.

The last ten winners Six Days of Ghent
2019: / Kenny D Keitel – Ruby Guess
2018: / Elia Viviani – Eligo Kiss
2017: / Kenny de Keitel – Moreno de Pauw
2016: / Mark Cavendish – Bradley Wiggins
2015: / Iljo Keisse – Michael Murkoff
2014: / Jasper de Boist – Kenny de Keitel
2013: / Jasper de Boist – Liv Lampeter
2012: / Iljo Keisse – Glenn O’Shea
2011: / Kenny D. Keitel – Robert Bartko
2010: / Iljo Keisse – Peter Ship
* In 2020, Six Days of Ghent has been cancelled

last year

The Six Days of Ghent was supposed to take place from November 17 to 22 last year, but it turned out to be impossible to organize the crown event. That’s why Robbe Ghys and Kenny De Ketele remained the latest winners for a year longer. In 2019, the Belgian couple managed to claim the ultimate victory in a very exciting final evening. In the end they had five points more in the final settlement than Tochs van der Sande and Jasper de Boist. Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhart completed the podium in third place.

Final Ranking Six Days of Ghent 2019
1. / Robbe Ghys – Kenny De Ketele – 301 points
2. / Tosh van der Sande – Jasper de Boist – 296 points
3. / Roger Kluge – Theo Reinhart – 212 points
4. / Mark Cavendish – Elgo Casey – 268 points, 1 round
5. / Jan Willem van Skipp – Yuri Havic – 299 points, 2 rounds

Robbe Ghys (left) and Kenny De Ketele won the final in 2019 – Photo: Cor Vos

field runner

1. / Michael Murkoff – Lacey Norman Hansen
The couple we’re looking forward to in Ghent are Michael Mørkøv and Lasse Norman Hansen. The Danes are the world and Olympic champions in team racing and they give us what we need Danish dynamite Expect. The 36-year-old Mørkøv, who was leading at Deceuninck-Quick-Step, has already won the “Gent” twice. In 2009 he was the best for the first time with Alex Rasmussen and in 2015 he put Six Days behind his name for the second time with Iljo Keisse by his side. Now he can attempt his third overall win with 29-year-old Norman Hansen, the Qhubeka NextHash rider.

2. / Yuri Havic – Jan Willem Van Skipp
European Team Race champions, Dutchman Yuri Havic and Jan Willem van Schep, will also be present in Quebec. The 30-year-old Havic and three-year-old Van Skipp won the European star’s shirt at Grinchen last month after an attacking match. Later, the couple was not allowed to participate in the World Championships in Roubaix, because the Netherlands did not play in the Nations Cup competitions. The duo proved to be fine with the legs in three days in Copenhagen. burin So they are likely to go the fast track to Ghent.

3. / Kenny D Keitel – Ruby Guess
For Kenny de Ketele, this will be his last performance at the six-day Ghent event. The four-time winner of Kuipke puts an end to his career. Together with 24-year-old Robbie Geese, with whom he won the bronze medal in the team sprint at the World Championships last month, boiler (36) He has been trying to defend his title for two years. After a thrilling battle with Jasper de Boist and Tosh van der Sande, the Belgian pair crowned themselves with the overall win, having finished second once a year earlier.

Mørkøv (left) and Norman Hansen are the Olympic team sprint champions – Photo: Cor Vos

4. / Iljo Keisse – Mark Cavendish
Iljo Keisse forms a Belgian-British duo with fellow Deceuninck-Quick-Step Mark Cavendish. Of all the active riders, the 38-year-old Keisse won the most at the Ghent. In 2005 he was the best with Matthew Gilmore for the first time. This was followed by final victories in 2007 and 2008 with Robert Bartko, in 2010 with Peter Ship, in 2012 with Glenn O’Shea, in 2015 with Michael Murkoff, and in 2018 with Ilya Viviani. Moreover Adequate (35) Knows the meaning of winning in Ghent. In 2016, he turned the competition to his will with Bradley Wiggins.

5. / Otto Vergerdi – Jules Hesters
Otto Vergierde, a teammate of 27-year-old Matthew van der Poel, Tim Merler and Jasper Philipsen at Alpecin-Fenix, is linked to Jules Hesters, who is less than four years old. Hesters showed himself in the last world championship with a fifth place in the elimination race. The job has no secrets for Vergerdi either. In 2014, he became European champion at zero point and in 2015 finished third in the six-day Ghent race with Jasper de Boist.

6. / Roger Kluge – Jasper de Boist
During this edition, 27-year-old de Boist paired up with 35-year-old German Roger Kluge, with whom he usually poses for Caleb Ewan’s sprint sprint on the road. De Buyst has twice already climbed the highest step in the six-day Ghent race. In 2013, he won for the first time with Liv Lampter, and a year later extended his title with Kenny de Ketely at his side. Cluj also won several six-day races in his career and was also a two-time world best in the team race with Theo Reinhardt.

European champions Van Schep (left) and Havik return to Ghent – Photo: Kor Vos

7. / Fabio van den Bosch – Lindsay de Felder
After De Ketele-Ghys and Vergaerde-Hesters, Fabio van den Bossche and Lindsay De Vylder were the third Belgian couple during the six-day Ghent event. The 21-year-old Van den Bosch, who will compete on Alpecin-Fenix ​​for the next two seasons, won the silver medal at Omnium last month during the European Championships in Grenchen. Five-year-old De Vylder also came home with a medal: together with Kenny De Ketele, he took silver in the team race.

8. / Michele Scartisini – Gerban Tessin
The organization of the six-day Ghent race was proud to present the team race of the current world champions, but also to appear as the vice world champion at the start. Veteran Italian Michele Scartisini had to admit his superiority in first pair Murkoff Norman Hansen with Simon Consoni in the world championships, but was also allowed to podium after that. At Ghent, he can use his expertise alongside Gerben Thijssen of Lotto Soudal, who is six years younger than him.

9. / Jonas Rickert – Sylvain Diller
With Otto Vergaerde and new addition Fabio Van den Bossche, we’ve already seen quite a few Alpecin-Fenix ​​passengers pass, but there’s also Jonas Rijkaert and Swiss Sylvain Dellier. The 27-year-old has driven the six-day Ghent race more than once and has also been a Belgian champion on the track in the past. There’s no blank page on the slopes for the four-year-old’s Dillier, former number two in Paris-Roubaix. In 2011, he became the European Champion in Team Racing as a promise and was on the podium in Ghent in both 2012 and 2014.

For Kenny de Ketele, this will be his last performance at the six-day Ghent event – Photo: Cor Vos

10. / Roy Peters – Michael Ziggler
22-year-old Dutchman Michael Zieglaard plays in Kuipke with fellow veteran ten-year-old Roy Peters. Ziggler, a scion of the famous cycling family Rotterdam, is the European champion in the elimination race between promises, and despite his young age, he already has a lot of experience on the track. Peter Peters, son of the late Belgium coach Peter Peters, has already won several Dutch national titles and has been a known name in the six-day circuit in Ghent for years.

11. / Mark Hester – Tour Dance
Tuur Dens – who took silver at the World Championships in Roubaix – will ride six days of Ghent alongside experienced Dane Marc Hester. The 21-year-old Dennis has been banging at the gates of the international cycling race since last season. In 2020, for example, he took bronze in the zero race at the European Under-23 Championship and in September he won the team race during the Nations Cup in Cali with Kenny de Kitelli. Hester is fifteen, a typical six-day rider and was second in the final six-day classification in Berlin last year.

12. / Morgan Kneisky – Matthias Malmberg
Last but not least, the French-Danish couple Morgan Knesky and Mathias Malmberg. The 34-year-old Kneisky is a multiple world champion in tag team racing and bid farewell to his sport. In Ghent, where he finished fifth four years ago with Benjamin Thomas, he did so alongside talented Malmberg, who turned just 21 in August. The Dane is still in the prime of his career and is one of the next generation of strong riders in his country. This year he was the European Under-23 champion and won the team competition at the “Big” European Championship.

Site organization
Participants list

TV

Six Days of Ghent (Tuesday 16 – Sunday 21 November) can be watched live on TV every day. Thanks to the new collaboration with Proximus, you don’t have to Next Pickx + From Tuesday to Saturday, don’t miss out on the action. The competition final can be watched live on Sunday via sporza on one.