Next week Jasper de Buyst will be at the start of the Six-Days of Ghent with an injured back. "I am hoping for the best," the 20-year-old defending champion says. "I have red-circled the race in Ghent."

Last week Jasper de Buyst hit the deck at the World Cup in the Mexican city of Guadalajara. "Therefore I have had a far from ideal preparation for the race in Ghent," the winner of the 2013 edition told Sporza.

"As of today I am back in training. I still feel stiff, but I can do it. I still have a week. I hope for the best. I can still change a lot.

"My nose is worst off but while riding I mainly have discomfort in my back. It it still blocked betwen my shoulders. I have appointments with the kinesist, masseur and physiotherapist. That will be good."

However, de Buyst still desperately needs his back to improve.

"I have trained two hours with Kenny (de Ketele, ed.) and it went well. I still have the same power but it gives me more trouble now."

Last year, Jasper de Buyst took the win in De Kuipke.

"Now we have two top favourites: Iljo Keisse and Mark Cavendish and Kenny De Ketele and me. I am calm. I don't see the Six-Day in a different way than last year," he says.

"Kenny and I are working well together. In the first two days, he will have to get me through when I have a a hard time. He is strong enough to do that. We have redcircled the race in Ghent. At the beginning of the year, we put everything into the World Championships. We can not make up for everything in Ghent but another win will be good.

Jasper de Buyst wants to shine on the track at the 2016 Olympics.

"That's why I will almost be a 100% track rider for the next two years," he says.

"After the Olympics, I will reduce the amount of track racing. Then the priority will be on the road but now I am focused on the omnium in Rio. I have the confidence to go there.

"The golden age of the Six-Day races is behind us. All the organizers are in difficulty.Ghent and Rotterdam are the only stable races.

"I am only 20 and I cannot continue to ride on the track. I will focus on the road which I also enjoy doing."

The race starts next Tuesday.