It didn’t take long for Michael Mørkøv and Iljo Keisse to make it unmistakably clear who carries the burden of being the team to defeat at the Ghent Six Days in Het Kuipke. On the opening evening the Belgian/Danish duo won the opening Madison, distancing all their nearest rivals by a lap, took the important team elimination and, just for good measure, also won the points race.

Their victorious opening was somewhat tainted, though, as Iljo Keisse was involved in a crash with Swiss rider Tristan Marguet. Partly as a result of this crash, from which both riders escaped unharmed, Keisse/Mørkøv lost a lap in the final Madison of the evening. They had done enough in terms of collecting points earlier on to remain top of the overall standings, though.

Only 12 points separate the top four teams so things are still pretty tight at the top.

Overall standings after the first night:

1. Michael Mørkøv (Denmark) - Iljo Keisse (Belgium) 86

2. Otto Vergaerde - Jasper De Buyst (Belgium) 78

3. Moreno De Pauw (Belgium) - Morgan Kneisky (France) 76

4. Gijs Van Hoecke - Kenny De Ketele (Belgium) 74

At 1 lap:

5. Marc Hester - Alex Rasmussen (Denmark) 26

At 2 laps:

6. Jesper Mørkøv (Denmark) - Nick Stöpler (Holland) 20

At 3 laps:

7. Melvin Van Zijl - Yoeri Havik (Holland) 23

8. Christian Grasmann - Marcel Kalz (Germany) 13

At 5 laps:

9. Christopher Lawless (Great Britain) - Roy Pieters (Holland) 15

At 6 laps:

10. Benjamin Thomas (France) - Tristan Marguet (Switzerland) 6

At 7 laps:

11. Stijn Steels (Belgium) - Andreas Müller (Austria) 12

At 8 laps:

12. David Muntaner (Spain) - Lindsay De Vilder (Belgium) 7