Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish have confirmed that they will line out together at the Ghent Six in November, which is set to be the final event of Wiggins’ professional career. The pair previously rode the Ghent Six together in 2007, and are the reigning world champions in the Madison.
Wiggins was born in Ghent in 1981 and can remember watching his late father Gary compete in ’t Kuipke velodrome when he was a child. The Briton won the Ghent Six in 2003, when he was partnered by Matthew Gilmore.
“My earliest memory of watching a cycle race was in Ghent in 1986 when I was six," Wiggins said. "I rode my first Ghent Six Day when I was 19 so it's kind of fitting that that's where the last one will be. I think also, because of the nostalgia involved with it, the history of the velodrome, it is a special place: Merckx, Sercu and all the rest used to race there. For me Ghent was always going to be the end."
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Wiggins was part of Great Britain’s gold medal-winning quartet in the team pursuit at the Rio 2016 Olympics, bringing his total tally of Olympic medals to eight. He is set to line out at the upcoming Tour of Britain with his WIGGINS team, but will call time on his career at the end of this season, with the Ghent Six his swansong.
Cavendish placed second in the 2014 Ghent Six, where he was partnered by Iljo Keisse. The race served as an early testing ground as he built towards competing in the omnium at the 2016 Olympics, and the Manxman went on to take the silver medal in Rio.
"It's always exciting to ride at an event as historic as Ghent 6, but to be riding as World Champion with Brad, in his final year, will be something very sentimental. After a close 2nd place in my last appearance with Iljo, a win would be the perfect way to close out Brad and my partnership on the bike,” Cavendish said.
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