The centenary edition of the Lotto Zesdaagse Vlaanderen-Gent, or Ghent Six, gets underway tomorrow in Belgium.
A British theme is already beginning to shine through for the 100th edition of the race with Ethan Hayter and Fred Wright both confirmed to race in the men’s elite category, and Sir Bradley Wiggins firing the official starting shot.
Along with Hayter and Wright, 39-year-old Iljo Keisse will compete in his final Ghent-Six after first racing the competition in 2002. Keisse has won the competition several times and will be partnered by his fellow Belgian Jasper De Buyst.
As well as Keisse and De Buyst, there are two other all-Belgian duos participating in the upcoming competition.
Here are four men that we think could help their team win the competition this week and become the 2022 Ghent-Six champions.
FRED WRIGHT
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The South-London born rider has had an impressive season on the road despite not picking up a converted first pro win.
Fred Wright completed both the Tour de France and Vuelta a España and was continuously at the sharp end of the action in various stages across both. The 23-year-old came away from both grand tours without a stage win but showed all the signs of plenty to come in the future.
As well as impressing at the Vuelta and Tour, Wright took a silver medal in the men’s time trial at the Commonwealth Games behind winner Rohan Dennis. The Londoner followed up that good showing with fifth in the road race in which he was regularly on the attack.
His strong season will make Wright’s team a firm favourite for the Ghent-Six title this week.
ILJO KEISSE
(Image credit: Getty)
Thirty-nine -year-old Iljo Keisse has been part of duos that have won the Belgian competition on seven separate occasions making him one of the most prolific winners in the competition’s history. He first won the competition in 2005 with the most recent overall victory coming in 2018.
The prolific Belgian has also competed in multiple grand tours throughout his career with the last one being the Giro d’Italia in 2021. Keisse won a stage of the Giro in 2015 and has spent the last 12 years on the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team.
This year Keisse will be partnered by fellow Belgian Jasper De Buyst who has also previously won the competition.
De Buyst, who rides for Lotto-Soudal on the road, has spent most of his career focussed on the track. Keisse partnering with a rider of the 28-year-olds calibre will make them firm…