Jules Hesters and Aaron Gate have seized power in the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent. The Belgian and New Zealand pair have gathered 264 points after five nights. Following on the same lap are Germans Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt (109 points). Defending Champions Robbe Ghys and Lindsay De Vylder (298 points) follow at one lap and dropped to third place.
The first points race of the evening went to Gianluca Pollefliet. Nolan Huysmans took the second points race. During the team elimination, Van Den Bossche and Thomas were the last on the track together with Hesters and Gate. The Belgian-French tandem eventually won the home run.
After wins for De Vylder and Ghys in the track lap, the Six-Day was turned completely upside down. Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt trailed at two laps at that point, but in the Madison the European Champions knew their time had come. The Germans were calling the shots. Only Hesters and Gate were able to follow but had to give way in the sprint.
The other pairs were pushed back by one or more laps. As Kluge and Reinhardt rounded the 100-point mark, they got another bonus lap and took over the lead in the ranking.
A lead they had to relinquish in the second part of the evening. After wins for Hesters and De Vylder in the Derny races and Jan-Willem van Schip in the Scratch, De Vylder and Ghys grabbed 20 points thanks to victory in the 500-metre time trial.
However, a new upheaval came in the final Madison. After an exciting final, Philip Heijnen and Mark Stewart narrowly managed to hold off Hesters and Gate. But having lapped the competition, they edged past Kluge and Reinhardt to take first place in the ranking.
On Sunday, the curtain falls on this 83rd edition of the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Ghent. At around 18:30 we will know the successors of Lindsay De Vylder and Robbe Ghys.
