Keisse/O'Shea clash with De Ketele/Van Hoecke on first evening

Kenny De Ketele and Gijs Van Hoecke are the first leaders of the Ghent Six after a high-speed first night of racing that saw world champion Philippe Gilbert fire the starting gun and swap his road bike for a few laps of the track.

Local hero Iljo Keisse and Australia's Glenn O'Shea battled with De Ketele and Van Hoecke but had to be content with second place, six points in arrears.

Keisse and O'Shea were the early leaders after winning the Elimination while de Ketele and Van Hoecke won the Points Race.

Keisse and O'Shea then combined to win the first Madison race of the event to take a narrow one-point lead over De Ketele and Van Hoecke midway through the opening evening. The rest of the night's racing remained a close battle for supremacy between the two teams.

Two other teams also finished the first night on the lead lap: Denmark's Marc Hester and Lasse Hansen, who won the final Madison, hold third with 53 points while the Dutch pair of Wim Stroetinga and Peter Schep ended the evening in fourth having tallied 39 points. Switzerland's Tristan Marguet and Franco Marvulli managed to earn 66 points on the first night but lost a lap, leaving them in fifth on the standings. Four other teams also remain one lap off the pace.

Before the serious racing began, Philippe Gilbert was the star of the show as he fired the start gun and then took on fellow Belgian Gianni Meersman in a 3km pursuit race.

Gilbert won the friendly race but struggled with the switch from the road. Meersman competed for the first time in the Omega Pharma-Quick Step colours after quitting Lotto-Belisol to join the rival Flemish team last week.

"Many people don't realize it, but this is totally different than on the road. You can't compare it: there's no gears, no brakes and you've still to pedal," Gilbert said.

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