Kenny De Ketele and Robbe Ghys take overall victory at thrilling Ghent Six Day 2019

The Belgian duo of Kenny De Ketele and Robbe Ghys have clinched victory in a thrilling finale at the Ghent Six Day 2019.

De Ketele needed the final sprint of the final event of the competition, the Madison, to take the overall win as he just edged out Jasper De Buyst.

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De Buyst and his team-mate Tosh Van der Sande finished second, only five points behind, with the German pair of Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt, who had started the Madison in first after taking a lap, finished a fair way back in third, and were the final team of the 11 competing to finish on the same lap as the first two duos.

Mark Cavendish and Iljo Keisse were in contention to contest the overall victory, only trailing De Ketele and Ghys by a few points at the start of the Madison. However, after Keisse had attacked to try and snatch victory in the final phase, Cavendish failed to close the last gap to Kluge and Reinhardt and their chance was gone, finishing fourth after a sprited week of racing from the pair.

After this failed attack, De Buyst/Van der Sande and De Ketele/Ghys sprung to claw back the Germans, then lapping the field as the two pairs readied themselves to fight it out for victory, which was decided with the final sprint.

"What a day. I find myself completely hoarse," Kenny De Ketele told Sporza after his victory. "There have never been so many rounds in the final Madison. The pairs were very close to each other. If you can barely win and do, it is really special.

"This [win] is an incredible boost with a view to Tokyo 2020. Robbe and I want to profile ourselves as a couple and that worked out well here anyway. I was under attack, but I responded with the pedals."

Results

Ghent Six Day 2019

1. De Ketele/Ghys (Belgium) – 301 pts

2.De Buyst/Van der Sande (Belgium) – 296 pts

3. Kluge/Reinhardt (Germany) – 212 pts

4. Keisse/Cavendish (Belgium/Great Britain) – 268 pts and 1 lap

5. Van Schip/Havik (Netherlands) – 299 pts and 2 laps

6. Vergaerde/Hesters (Belgium) – 211 pts and 11 laps

7. Hester/Van Den Bossche (Denmark/Belgium) - 116 pts and 17 laps

8. Rickaert/Pieters (Belgium/Netherlands) - 111 pts and 22 laps

9. De Vylder/Stroetinga (Belgium/Netherlands) - 87 pts and 22 laps

10. Wulff Frederiksen/Kneisky (Denmark/France) - 199 pts and 26 laps

11. Scartezzini/De Pauw (Italy/Belgium) - 168 pts and 32 laps