Mark Cavendish and Filippo Ganna are among the big-name riders taking part in the "Merci Irjoux" track meeting in Ghent on Thursday evening.

The race evening will be held at the legendary velodrome 't Kuipke, where Kacee recently participated in the Ghent Six Day. The Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl professionals will lead an eight-member "Team Belgium" team against eight rival "Team Internationals."

In addition to Ganna and Cavendish, Team International will also include Niki Terpstra of the Netherlands. Niki is a former winner of Paris-Roubaix and the Tour de Flanders and is set to retire at the end of this season. Elia Viviani and Mikhail Morkov will also star for Team International.

Local native Kacee will be the star of the three-hour omnium event on Thursday night. This event will include a Delaney race, an elimination race, a scratch event, a points race, and a 500-meter sprint.

Other highlights of Merci Irjou's career include a stage win at the 2015 Giro d'Italia and victories in 28 six-day events.

Remco Evenpoel will return from his winter base in Spain to watch from trackside and join in the celebrations of his former Quick-Step Alphavinir teammates. Keis will remain with the Belgian team, switching his domestique role to Directeur Sportif.

Evenpoel had already expressed his high regard for Caisse when the two dropped out of the peloton to cross the finish line together at Binche-Chimay-Binche, his first road race after winning the rainbow jersey in Australia and his last with Caisse. 13]

As Evenpoel later said, "It was the last race we ran together, so I wanted to finish well with him."

The race was the first time that the two had raced together.

"He was the most important rider of my career.

"I learned a lot from him. After many races and spending a lot of time as a roommate at the team hotel, I couldn't have ended the race in a better way."

"He was a great guy.

Just two days before Binch-Chimay-Binch, Casey was there as a special witness at the Grand Prix in Brussels when Evenpoel celebrated winning the world championship in Australia. Thursday's "Merci Iljoo" in Ghent will be the opposite, an event celebrating Kacey's career.