Last year the race was won by Belgian duo Jasper De Buyst and Kenny De Ketele but there will be no repeat win this year as the team has been split up. The former will team up with Otto Vergaerde while De Ketele partners with Gijs Van Hoecke. Together, De Ketele and Van Hoecke won the 2012 World Madison Championship, while De Buyst/Vergaerde took bronze in this year’s event.

Neither team will be the odds-on favourites to win what will be the 75th edition of the race, though. That honour must rest on the shoulders of Dane Michael Mørkøv and home crowd favourite Iljo Keisse. However, De Ketele was adamant that the outcome of the race is no foregone conclusion when talking to Het Nieuwsblad on the eve of the event.

“When I read the reports in the newspapers, it’s all about Iljo Keisse and Michael Mørkøv. One gets the impression that they are untouchable and that De Buyst/Vergaerde are bound to finish as runners-up. I don’t agree with such an interpretation and Van Hoecke and I will take delight in disproving it right from the start of the race,” De Ketele said.

The starting gun will be fired by two legends of Belgian cycling; Patrick Sercu, who won a record 88 Six Days, and Eddy Merckx, who needs no introduction, to commemorate the 50 years anniversary of their win at the Ghent Six Days in 1965.

The 12 participating teams:

1. Jasper De Buyst – Otto Vergaerde (BEL)
2. Kenny De Ketele – Gijs van Hoecke (BEL)
3. Yoeri Havik – Michael Vingerling (NED)
4. Iljo Keisse (BEL) – Michael Mørkøv (DEN)
5. Alex Rasmussen – Marc Hester (DEN)
6. Andreas Müller (AUT) – Stijn Steels (BEL)
7. Marcel Kalz – Christian Grasmann (GER)
8. Morgan Kneisky (FRA) – Moreno de Pauw (BEL)
9. Tristan Marguet – Claudio Imhof (SUI)
10. Lindsay de Vylder (BEL) – David Muntaner (ESP)
11. Melvin van Zijl (NED) – Christopher Lawless (GBR)
12. Nick Stöpler (NED) – Jesper Mørkøv (DEN)