British riders Ethan Hayter and Fred Wright will be among the major names taking part in next week's Gent Six, the famous week of track racing in the Belgian city's 't Kuipke velodrome which celebrates its hundredth anniversary this year.
The pair will take to the steep wooden banking of the 166.67m velodrome from Tuesday to Sunday and are among the number of high-profile names competing through the week. The event is close to selling out, with fans keen to return to the track centre for the late-night racing and flow of beer and frites after two years of COVID-19 restrictions.
Two-time winner Bradley Wiggins is set to fire the starting pistol to kick off the event on Tuesday. His 17-year-old son Ben is taking part in the U23 AVS Cup competition. Wiggins was born in Gent after his Australian father raced the six-day circuit. In a recent Sporza documentary about the Gent Six, Wiggins said he wanted his ashes scattered at the velodrome.
Other famous faces set to attend include a number of former Gent Six winners, with Eddy Merckx and Roger De Vlaeminck set to be joined in the stands by Jolien D'hoore, Etienne De Wilde, and Moreno De Pauw.
Hayter, who won the Tour de Pologne this season, also enjoyed success on the track in 2022, winning the world omnium and team pursuit titles, while Wright has junior and U23 European titles in the same discipline on his palmarès.
The pair will face off against hometown hero Iljo Keisse, the 39-year-old set to race his 18th and last Gent Six as he heads towards retirement. The QuickStep-AlphaVinyl veteran is a seven-time winner of the event and will partner Lotto Soudal's Jasper De Buyst, having last year raced with Mark Cavendish – who crashed badly and broke two ribs on the final day.
"After a difficult season, I'm really ready for it," Keisse told Het Nieuwsblad about his impending retirement. "For me, it's more about the goodbye itself. The last lap is going to hurt.
"Winning is definitely not what I'm assuming for myself," he added.
"I start with moderate ambition. Everyone dreams of a farewell like Kenny De Ketele [who won last year before retiring], but you can't make that comparison. He was a track specialist which I am no longer, and he stopped two or three years early, in my opinion."
Keisse said that he had hoped to race alongside QuickStep teammate Michael Mørkøv, with whom he triumphed in Gent seven years ago, but the Dane has taken his coach's recommendation to take an off-season rest instead. His 2021 partner Cavendish also opted against racing again, meaning Keisse is part of an unusual QuickStep-Lotto partnership with De Buyst.
"I don't think it has ever happened before," Keisse said of the partnership. "Sporting-wise I am very happy with him. In the past, he has often hurt my legs. Hopefully, now we can hurt the competition together."
As well as the Hayter-Wright and Keisse-De Buyst partnerships, other notable riders taking part include a QuickStep-Alpecin pairing of Stijn Steels and Silvan Dillier, German pair Roger Kluge and Theo Reinhardt, 2019 and 2021 winner Robbe Ghys and Lindsay De Vylder, and Fabio Van den Bossche and Yoeri Havik.
The women's lineup is headlined by Belgian star Lotte Kopecky – current world and European elimination race champion, and Shari Bossuyt.
Keisse rated the British duo as the strongest men on paper but questioned their experience on a unique track such as 't Kuipke.
"If you look at individual qualities, the strongest pair is Hayter and Wright. But whether that's going to be the case in Gent? They're certainly not used to riding with smaller gears.
"I'm especially looking at Van den Bossche and Havik. Yoeri just became points race world champion and Fabio is also getting better every year. A small, compact team who will be very dangerous customers. Ditto for Ghys and De Vylder."
