Edvald Boasson Hagen clinches second Aviva Tour of Britain title

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Edvald Boasson Hagen of MTN Qhubeka became the first rider to win the modern Aviva Tour of Britain twice when he successfully defended his 13 second lead on the final stage, an 86.8km circuit race around some of central London’s iconic landmarks.

The Norwegian sprinted to fifth on the stage, which was upgraded to fourth when Andre Greipel was relegated for impeding Elia Viviani in the final sprint up Regent Street St James, handing the Italian his third stage win of the week.

Viviani’s victories in Wrexham, Floors Castle and now London also mean he is only the fifth rider to win three stages in one edition of the race, and joins Mark Cavendish as one of only two riders to win Tour of Britain stages in England, Scotland and Wales.

Speaking afterwards he said “After yesterday I saw I had good speed in the legs after a really hard week, so we thought we could win today. 

“(Ben) Swifty and Andy (Fenn) put me in a perfect position for the last corner. We saw the road go up and I knew we couldn’t start the sprint too early. When I saw Greipel go I went directly on his left-hand side. He came across a little bit, a little bit and that edged me towards the barriers. I’m disappointed because it is better to win without this. He is a big champion and I’ve never seen him do this before. But we won in London and that is the main thing.”

“This week has been really good with lots of stages over 200 kilometres,” he added. “It has given me a very good base for the worlds and I am really confident. I think the Tour of Britain is the perfect roads for the worlds this year.”

After the stage Greipel insisted the incident was accidental: “I didn’t see Viviani coming. I was just concentrating on my sprint and suddenly he was next to me. The final straight wasn’t that wide, I had to look for space to overtake. Everybody was on the limit on the final corner. I didn’t do anything for purpose that’s for sure. That’s sprinting.” 

Boasson Hagen’s fourth place on the day was more than enough to see him win the Aviva Yellow Jersey outright thirteen seconds ahead of Team Sky’s Wout Poels with young British rider Owain Doull capping an outstanding week’s work by moving up to third place overall thanks to a time bonus, the best result of his road career to date.

Doull also claimed the Chain Reaction Cycles Points jersey, having finished in the top ten on all but one stage (the finish at Hartside where he came 11th) and the Premier Inn Best British Rider award.

Boasson Hagen, who won three stages in 2008 and four in 2009, didn’t take a stage victory in 2015, but arguably his overall victory was all the more impressive, having to fight off a determined effort from Team Sky, working for the in-form Poels.

“I am very happy with that win,” said Boasson Hagen who joined MTN Qhubeka at the start of this season from Team Sky. “The object today was simply to defend the jersey and my team did a great job all day. Team WIGGINS took it out very fast at the start looking for the intermediate Sprint and seconds for their rider and it was very hard but then the race settled down a little. I always like to race to win. I had my chances with Sky but perhaps I get more chances with MTN Qhubeka. I think perhaps this year it was harder to win the GC than back in 2009, the course was tougher and Sky were very strong.”

Boasson Hagen now goes onto the World Championships in Richmond, Virginia where he will be riding primarily for Alexander Kristoff although on this form he clearly represents a viable Plan B. Both Greipel and Viviani have also expressed their hopes of taking the title and it could yet be that the Aviva Tour of Britain again acts as ideal build up for the eventual champion, as it did last year with Michel Kwiatkowski.

With a new look circuit hosting 14-laps of racing, the early interest in the final stage centred mainly on Team WIGGINS trying to secure two vital seconds for Doull to move him from fourth place onto the podium in third ahead of Rasmus Guldhammer of Cult Energy Pro Cycling.

For a team consisting of Great Britain’s best team pursuiters that was a pleasing scenario and provided a fine spectacle for a large crowd as Team WIGGINS went to the front half way around the first lap and bossed the race for the first three laps right up to the first intermediate YodelDirect Sprint.

A huge turn on lap three from Sir Bradley Wiggins set Doull up nicely although Russ Downing, riding for Cult Energy did manage to infiltrate the Team WIGGINS train and take the line honours to deny Doull the full three seconds. Doull, however, comfortably collected two seconds for second place to move into third on the road, a position he was able to defend.

After the first sprint an eight man break went up the road which meant Cult had to chase in an attempt to get Guldhammer into the second YodelDirect Sprint. Ultimately it was in vain with the peloton unable to get on terms in time, last year’s overall winner Dylan van Baarle taking both the second and third YodelDirect Sprints, on his way to finishing eighth overall.

Elsewhere Peter Williams of ONE Pro Cycling completed an excellent week’s riding – both individually and in the team context – by taking both the SKODA King of the Mountains title and YodelDirect Sprint jersey, only the third time that feat has ever been achieved in Aviva Tour of Britain history

Williams, from Southport, had cinched the Skoda King of the Mountains title on Saturday when he took maximum points on the final climb of the day up Brantham Hill in Suffolk and started today’s stage seven points up from Conor Dunne in the YodelDirect Sprints classification. With neither rider contesting the first sprint of the day Williams’ lead became unassailable and the celebrations could start.

“It’s a massive achievement for ONE Pro Cycling. This time last year it was just a few conversations and the ball had just started to role so it was a really new team. To come away with two leaders’ jerseys on our Tour debut is a brilliant achievement.

“I feel like I’ve been in good form all year, the setup is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and it helps get the best out of all the riders. It’s a really good environment. Coming into the Tour of Britain we had prepared well and felt ready to come here and do something.”

For full results and standings, please click here.

Tour de Yorkshire – Stage 2

Stage 2 TdY Finish - Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

Stage 2 TdY Finish – Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

The end of stage one of the tour resulted in a number of big names getting off the bike. Ben Swift with a right shoulder trauma, young Irish rider Eddie Dunbar sustaining the same injury but on his left side, both riders were casualties in the crash at the front of the peloton. We also saw the early retirement of Marcel Kittel who had only just returned from illness.

Stage 2 TdY Final Lap - Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

Stage 2 TdY Final Lap – Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

Stage two started with a large group going clear early in the day, with some quality riders involved including Bert de Backer (Giant-Alpecin), Andy Tennant (Team Wiggins), Mark McNally (Madison-Genesis) and Matt Brammeier (MTN-Qhubeka). The group built up a five minute lead which they held for quite some time. The job of reeling them in was left to the team of the GC leader Lars-Petter Nordhaug. Team Sky got to work. The lead group fragmented, the remains; McNally and De Backer put in an extra effort to stay away as the race arrived on the outskirts of York for the two lap finish. The attempt was looking successful until the final few kilometres of the last lap.

The pace lifted as Team Sky gained allies on the front of the peloton; IAM Cycling, NFTO, Roompot-Orange Peloton and One Pro Cycling, the race started to look more like an angry swarm of bees, as the riders were strung out behind the four teams.

Stage 2 TdY Podium - Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

Stage 2 TdY Podium – Image ©www.chrismaher.co.uk | CyclingShorts.cc

In the meantime De Backer was showing his strength and he managed to shake off McNally. With just a few kilos to go it was looking less like he would manage a lone arrival at the finish, the peloton was closing in fast. As the the race reached the 2km marker the peloton were on his tail, they could smell a bunch sprint finish. Loic Chetout (Cofidis) attacked and pulled his way up to De Backer, this small victory was short-lived as the peloton came charging past at the Flame Rouge.

Greg van Avermaet had a dig and gapped the peloton for a moment but the final moments came down to Pelucchi and Hofland battling it out for the win. The Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider just pipped Pelucchi to the post. All the hard work of Team LottoNL-Jumbo this season finally paid off, their first win of the year!

The first British rider to reach the line in the sprint was Russ Downing (Cult Energy Pro Cycling) – a Yorkshireman too!

 

No change overall in the standings as Lars-Petter Nordhaug finished in the bunch.

Tour de Yorkshire 2015: stage two results

1) Moreno Hofland (NED) – Team LottoNL-Jumbo – 3.57.58hrs
2) Matteo Pelucchi (ITA) – IAM Cycling – ST
3) Roman Sinkeldam (NED) – Giant-Alpecin
4) Jempy Drucker (NED) – BMC Racing
5) Dylan Groenewegen (NED) – Roompot Orange Peloton
6) Andre Looij (NED) – Roompot Orange Peloton
7) Russ Downing (GBR) – Cult Energy Pro Cycling
8) Andreas Stauff (GER) – MTN-Qhubeka
9) Harry Tanfield (GBR) – Condor-JLT
10) Pieter Vanspeybrouck (BEL) – Topsport-Vlaanderen Baloise

General classification

1) Lars-Petter Nordhaug (NOR) – Team Sky – 8.20.26hrs
2) Samuel Sanchez (ESP) – BMC Racing +10”
3) Thomas Voeckler (FRA) – Team Europcar – ST
4) Stephane Rossetto (FRA) – Cofidis +12”
5) Philip Deignan (IRL) – Team Sky +16”
6) Anthony Turgis (FRA) – Cofidis +1.18
7) Greg van Avermaet (BEL) – BMC Racing +1.20
8) Erick Rowsell (GBR) – Madison-Genesis – ST
9) Ben Hermans (BEL) – BMC Racing +1.23
10) Richard Handley (GBR) – JLT-Condor +1.26

Tickhill GP Yesss Electrical Men’s Elite 1/2/3 Race Gallery

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YESSS ELECTRICAL MENS ELITE 1/2/3
1. HARRY TANFIELD        –   KTM road-and-trail.com
2.MARCIN BIALOBLOCKI     –  Velosure Giordana
3. JACOB SCOTT                 –  HARIBO Beacon Cycling Team
4. JON MOULD                   – NFTO
5. RICHARD HEPWORTH – Velosure Giordana
6. RUSS DOWNING           – NFTO
7. JACOB TIPPER               –  KTM road-and-trail.com
8. MATT CRONSHAW      –  Velosure Giordana
9. BRAD MORGAN            –  Velosure Giordana
10. WILLIAM BJERFELT    –  Metaltek Kuota RT

Viva La Revolution! – British National Madison Championship & Revolution 39

GB’s sprint team came away relatively empty handed, but it wasn’t through lack of effort.

GB’s sprint team came away relatively empty handed, but it wasn’t through lack of effort.

National Madison Championships and Revolution 39 report.

Revolution 39 landed at the National Velodrome at Manchester on Saturday – the National Madison championships made an understated start to proceedings, run during the afternoon before the main event, with a surprisingly sparse crowd privileged to be present to witness some absolutely corking race action, the stadium maybe halfway full for the afternoon programme.

First on track was the qualifying time trial for the Revolution Sprint – Francois Pervis took pole on 10.130, a full tenth quicker than Robert Fostermann, Callum Skinner and Michael D’Almeida, with Philip Hindes a smidge off the pace down in eighth. The opening race of the day was the DHL Future Stars Girls Madison, a knock-out battle straight from the off, but Sky Procycling took the upper hand, putting themselves into a dominant position by winning the first sprint ahead of howies and Raleigh GAC. Sky took the second ahead of howies again this time with Rudy Project taking third, but already an ominous pattern had started to form – Maxgear Racing and FACE made a break but Sky went with them, howies crossing the gap to make a group of four, and with four laps to go FACE made one last big effort to break free but the pack shut them down and it was left to Sky to celebrate their overall victory by nicking the final sprint on the line.

 

British National Madison Championships 2013

Second race of the evening was the National Madison Championship, a 50km slugfest, and it was a battle from the off right the way to the line. Pete Kennaugh and Adam Blythe took the first sprint ahead of Russ Downing and Jonny McEvoy with George Atkins and Jon Mould right on their heels to set the pattern for the major players right from the pistol, but Atkins and Mould threw down the gauntlet with four laps to go to the second sprint – Kennaugh and Blythe went with them, but couldn’t close the gap, with Russell Hampton and Evan Oliphant third, and Downing and McEvoy back in fourth. The lead pair then made a break, putting a lap on the whole field bar Downing and McEvoy who had to work heroically to close the gap, sprint three being comparatively uncontested after the previous 20 laps of effort, Kennaugh/Blythe leading Atkins/Mould and Downing/McEvoy over the line after the catch. Ryan and Paul Whatmough made an effort to muscle in on the action by going early for the fourth sprint, but Kennaugh/Blythe and Downing/McEvoy went with them, Downing/McEvoy edging it on the line. By the halfway sprint five, the leading three teams were fully two laps up on the rest, but James McCallum and Michael Nicholson managed to grab one back with just over a hundred laps to go, Atkins/Mould and Kennaugh/Blythe separated by just 2 points at the halfway mark, 19 to 17, with Downing/McEvoy battling to stay in contention on 13. Kennaugh/Blythe made an opportunistic move as Downing/McEvoy switched but Atkins/Mould charged with just a lap left and managed to hold on ahead of

Adam Blythe and Pete Kennaugh reflect on second place in the National Madison Championship - ©Paul Harris

Adam Blythe and Pete Kennaugh reflect on second place in the National Madison Championship – ©Paul Harris

Kennaugh/Blythe and Downing/McEvoy, which put the two leading pairs on dead level terms. Kennaugh/Blythe launched an attack with 74 laps to go but Downing/McEvoy and Atkins/Mould managed to just tag along, dropping the pack but unable to make another lap up, and they were all back together with 65 laps left to run – four laps later Kennaugh/Blythe launched an assault on sprint seven but Atkins/Mould clung on and countered, edging it on the line to take the lead by two points, Downing/McEvoy then launching a doomed break to try and get on terms. With just three sprints left, Kennaugh/Blythe seemed to catch the others on the hop and took sprint eight with comparative ease to put the two leading teams on level pegging once more, with Downing/McEvoy and Hampton/Oliphant breaking opportunistically with 26 to go to try to get into the mix – the break ultimately failed but they took the penultimate sprint which meant that, with just the final sprint to go, Atkins/Mould led Kennaugh/Blythe by a solitary point. As the laps wound down, Kennaugh/Blythe made a late break that failed, and the pack was all together as they reached the final stages. Atkins/Mould took a very early leadout and it looked as though they might have bitten off a little more than they could chew with Kennaugh charging like a missile down the back stretch but with terrifyingly brave timing, Mould switched perfectly with Atkins on the final turn, driving across the line bare inches ahead of Kennaugh to take the first British National Championships of the 2013 season. It was an absolute belter of a race, and for the whole hour you never knew who the ultimate victors would be.

As the dust settled from the Madison, the sprint stars came out to play in round 1 of the Revolution Sprint. With just the winners to go through, Pervis had too much for Kian Emadi and Craig MacLean to win heat 1, whilst Forstermann just did what he had to in heat 2 to cross the line ahead of John Paul and Louis Oliva. Callum Skinner rode 10.755 to beat Hindes by half a length ahead of Julien Palma in the third, and D’Almeida cruised home in heat four ahead of Matts Crampton and Rotherham.

Race three on the programme was the DHL Future Stars Boys Madison, which put the first crash of the evening into the books in the opening laps. Once everyone was dusted down and the race got back underway, it was IG Sigmasport who took the first sprint ahead of Rudy Project RT, NetApp Endura, Rapha Condor Sharp and WD40 – IG Sigmasport then attempted a break but the pack worked to close them back down, before four teams went toe to toe for the second sprint, IG Sigmasport taking a second win ahead of Rudy Project RT, NetApp Endura and WD40. With four laps to go, Sportscover made a break, but IG Sigmasport were right there on a watching brief, Sportscover taking the final win and IG Sigmasport sealing a comfortable overall victory. Rudy’s brace of seconds was enough for the second step of the podium, whilst the hitherto-pointless Sportscover’s last-gasp win gave them bronze.

If you could squat 700kg, you’d need bottom bracket bracing like this. Robert Forstermann’s steed quivers in fear - ©Paul Harris

If you could squat 700kg, you’d need bottom bracket bracing like this. Robert Forstermann’s steed quivers in fear. ©Paul Harris

Revolution 39

The DHL Future Stars Boys Madison concluded the afternoon session, and there was an hour or so to catch your breath before the action resumed for the evening – and in contrast, if there had been a few empty seats during the National Madison Championships, there was not a single free space in the house when it came to Revolution 39. Proceedings kicked off in suitably flamboyant fashion with the Sprint semi finals – semi one was a French civil war, Pervis going head to head with D’Almeida – the pair put on a trackstand demonstration on the back straight before battle was commenced, former World Champion D’Almeida leading into the bell but Pervis had gas in the tank to ride around the outside and edge it on the line. Semi two saw Callum Skinner, riding for Great Britain A, go up against another former World Champion, the imposing Robert Forstermann – the race saw Skinner lead out from the bell with the man with thunder in his legs right on Skinner’s shoulder, but if Forstermann had thunder, Skinner had lightning – and lightning was the quicker, the 20 year old Scot holding off Forstermann for the whole lap, taking the win and lifting the crowd to their feet. As a way to kick off the main event, it would have been hard to better.

Next up was the Elite Flying Lap, the first Championship event with the results going towards the overall team contest. Evan Oliphant was up first for Raleigh GAC, clocking a 14.765, followed by Jonny McEvoy (NetApp Endura) and Jacob Scott (Sportscover) who both failed to improve. FACE Partnership’s Tristan Marquet took the lead with a 13.912, but Ross Edgar was next up for IG Sigmasport and smashed it with a 13.541. A string of contenders did their best to top Edgar’s time – Adam Blythe (WD40), Adam Duggleby (MaxGear Racing), Franco Marvulli (Howies), Peter Kennaugh (Sky Procycling), Jasper De Buyst (Rouleur) – but it wasn’t until Marcel Kalz took to the track for the penultimate run that there was any movement at the head of the table, Kalz’s 13.798 enough to relegate Marquet to third. However, with Ed Clancy going last, there was always going to be more to the story – the Rapha Condor Sharp JLT man demolished the opposition with a 13.160 to bolster the leading Championship Team’s title assault.

Sim Parrott’s audio interview with Ed Clancy coming shortly

Event 3 in the evening programme was the DHL Future Stars Girls 6 Lap Dash. After a couple of cagey laps to start, things started to heat up, Lauren O’Brien (NetApp-Endura) and Grace Garner (Sky Procyling) jumping the pack to take a slender lead at the halfway point. With two laps to go, the pack had dragged them back, Jessica Roberts (Raleigh-GAC) leading Garner and Lucy Shaw (Rudy Project RT) over the line at the bell, but as they sprinted for the line, it was Garner who had the gas left to take the win ahead of Paige Millward (IG Sigmasport) and Shaw.

Callum Skinner beats Robert Forstemann in the Revolution Sprint... No thighs in this tongue in cheek picture - ©Chris Maher

Callum Skinner beats Robert Forstemann in the Revolution Sprint… No thighs in this tongue in cheek picture – ©Chris Maher

Next up was the Revolution Sprint Losers Handicap Race – a fast-paced 6 lap battle of wits, with a pack of 7 riders there was no place for the normal sprinter’s stalking, it was all go from the off. Julien Palma led Hindes over the line first time round, the pair of them joined by Crampton as they tried to make a bit of a gap, but the pack were never going to let that develop. Kian Emadi tried another break at the halfway mark but again got reeled in, and as they headed into the last lap, Matts Crampton and Rotherham were at the head of the field and travelling fast. Matt Rotherham it was who had kept the most in reserve, taking the win by a length or more ahead of Crampton and Hindes.

 

The capacity crowd was then treated to the sight of top-class athletes beating themselves into the ground in the next championship event, the Elite Devil Takes The Hindmost or Elimination Race and it’s often called. With no place to hide, this brutal event (complete with sound effects) was compelling viewing all the way through, but as it drew into the final stages, it seemed Ed Clancy was on the cusp of being knocked out. For maybe the last six or eight laps, the Yorkshireman was amongst the scrabblers at the back fighting to stay in, but time after time he seemed to have just enough in the tank to squirt in front of some other unfortunate as they crossed the line. The last five standing were Clancy, Adam Blythe, Jon Mould (howies), Franco Marvulli (howies) and George Atkins (WD40), and you never knew who would go next. Atkins was first to tumble, followed by Blythe, then Mould to leave Clancy up against Marvulli for what looked to be a desperate final dash to the line, but the Olympic gold medallist had the gas left to ride away from multiple world champion Marvulli on the run in.

Next up was the DHL Future Stars Boys Points Race – Thomas Rotherham took the win for Maxgear Racing ahead of Sportcover’s Levi Moody and Gabriel Cullaigh of NetApp Endura.

Event seven was the first round of the Keirin. Heat 1 saw the on-form Pervis take the win ahead of Oliva and Crampton, with Emadi ahead of a Philip Hindes showing signs of not being fully on his game. Heat 2 was another collective victory for Team GB against The Man With Thunder In His Legs (©Hugh Porter), Rotherham beating Forstermann, Palma, Skinner, D’Almeida and MacLean, and yet again the crowd were cheering to the rafters – the affable German is a popular character, and it should be taken as a sign of the respect given to him that victories against him were so rousingly received.

The next event was the third championship event of the evening, the first round of the Elite Madison 1km Time Trial. Evan Oliphant and Russell Hampton were up first for Raleigh GAC, clocking a benchmark four laps in 61.677, but Downing and McEvoy eclipsed that for NetApp-Endura with a 60.415. Sportscover were unable to better that, but the FACE Partnership’s Tristan Marquet and Moreno De Pauw topped the leaderboard next with a blistering 58.184. IG Sigmasport and WD40 took a tilt at it, the FACE duo remained unbeaten to head the table before the rest of the teams took to the track in the second part of the event.

The DHL Future Stars Girls Scratch Race saw a second win of the evening for Grace Garner, the Sky Procycling youngster beating Jessica Roberts (Raleigh GAC) and Lucy Shaw (Rudy Project RT) to the line.

Pete Kennaugh’s ride in the points race was world class, the Team Sky rider putting two laps on the whole field. -   ©Paul Harris

Pete Kennaugh’s ride in the points race was world class, the Team Sky rider putting two laps on the whole field. – ©Paul Harris

As we headed into the second half of the evening’s programme, the Elite Championship Points Race awaited –it looked an inviting prospect with the likes of Edgar, Clancy and Marvulli in the mix, but Pete Kennaugh came out determined to spoil the party. Kennaugh took the first sprint ahead of Downing and Tom Murray, then dug out blind and made a break, and inside 20 laps, the Sky man had put a lap on the field to the huge cheers of the crowd. Adam Yates took the next sprint but Kennaugh was right there in second ahead of Marvulli – the third sprint was between Clancy and Jasper De Buyst (Rouleur), and you wondered whether the effort had taken enough out of Kennaugh for it to become a race, but then a streak of black touched with blue left the pack again and with thirteen laps to go, Kennaugh had put a second lap into the rest. He even found the legs to lead into the final lap, but couldn’t quite hold off Adam Yates (Maxgear) for the finish, Yate’s five points just enough to stop Kennaugh from scoring double anyone else. Even so, at 28 points to Yates’ 15 and Downing’s 13, it was an incredible display in front of an appreciative audience.

The Revolution Sprint Final was our next show, Callum Skinner taking on Francois Pervis – Skinner led out a tense start, the Frenchman stalking all the way but as they took the final bell Skinner had put the hammer down and won himself the slightest of gaps. Pervis wasn’t going to gift it to him, however, and began to slowly work his way around the outside but it was deadly close and impossible to split the pair of them as they crossed the line to tumultuous applause. The riders had finished one warm down lap and were halfway around another before the picture came up on the big screen – Pervis had taken it by a whisker.

Event 12 was the DHL Future Stars Boys 6 Lap Dash – the pack was three and four abreast heading into the bell, but Tom Rotherham (Maxgear) took the long way round to lead into the final stretch to win going away from Jake Kelly (Rudy Project RT) and Joe Truman (Rouleur).

LtoR: Madison TT: Robert Bengsch & Marcel Kalz of Rudy Project RT blitz the opposition with a sub 50second ride, just shy of the all time champion pairing of Sir Chris Hoy & Arnaud Tournant who set a time of 54.549 in Revolution 20 - ©Chris Maher (www.chrismaher.co.uk)

LtoR: Madison TT: Robert Bengsch & Marcel Kalz of Rudy Project RT blitz the opposition with a sub 50second ride, just shy of the all time champion pairing of Sir Chris Hoy & Arnaud Tournant who set a time of 54.549 in Revolution 20 – ©Chris Maher

We then had the final half of the Elite Championship Madison 1km TT. Clancy and James Macallum were out for Rapha-Condor, their 58.364 putting them into third. Maxgear were unable to make an impression on the riders who had gone before, but Marvulli and Mould managed to put howies into fourth. Sky were next up with Kennaugh and Martin Irvine, and they just managed to top FACE with a 57.934 to set the crowd off once more – Rouleur’s Murray and De Buyst put themselves into seventh overall, and we were left with just Robert Bengsch and Marcel Kalz to go for Rudy Project RT before another Sky win could be celebrated. However, no-one had told Bengsch and Kalz…. The two Germans absolutely tore up the track to clock an astonishing 54.922 to put themselves three seconds ahead of the rest. I’ll say that again – three seconds. The crowd went absolutely ballistic, Hugh Porter (exemplary as ever driving the microphone) almost had a fit, and if there was an award for ride of the night, this might just have been it.

Sim Parrott’s interview with Martin Irvine coming shortly

Next up was the DHL Future Stars Girls Points Race. Grace Garner took the first sprint by a mile, but the next was a tussle between Sophie and Emily Capewell (both of WD40), Sophie coming out on top. The third was a photo with Emily Haycox (howies), Garner and Lucy Shaw (Rudy Project RT) in that order, before Shaw edged the sprint to the line ahead of Henrietta Colbourne (Sportscover) to take victory by a point from Garner, with Haycox in third.

 

We then had the Team Sprint event – with four teams entered, they would compete in pairs with the fastest times taking the win. An All Stars team of Forstermann, Crampton and Dave Daniel lined up in the first heat against Great Britain B, Oliva, Rotherham and Paul, and it was a comfortable win for the visitors in 46.067. Heat two saw Pervis, D’Almeida and Palma as a strong French squad take on Great Britain A in the form of Hindes, Skinner and Emadi – GB A looked strong and it was in the balance, the crowd were hopeful of a home win, but the French rode an incredible final lap to take the heat and the overall in 45.012 in front of an appreciative crowd and a whisker ahead of GB A on 45.037 for second overall.

Revolution 39 | Season 10 DHL Future Stars Scratch Race winner Team Sky's Joel Partington - ©Chris Maher (www.chrismaher.co.uk)

DHL Future Stars Scratch Race winner Team Sky’s Joel Partington – ©Chris Maher (www.chrismaher.co.uk)

The Scratch Race was the final event of the evening for the DHL Future Stars Boys, and like all of the Future Stars races it went to the wire, Joel Partington (Sky Procycling) edging Thomas Rotherham and Joe Evans (Rudy Project RT) to the line.

Next up was the day’s last Championship event, the Elite 10km Scratch Race – newly-crowned British Madison champion Jon Mould was out of the blocks early with Madison runner-up Adam Blythe trying to make a break, but after a long night’s racing they struggled to make it stick and when Jacob Scott tried to bridge the gap, he took the pack with him and the break closed down – Scott tried to push on, but was unable to make more than ten or fifteen lengths before being forced to concede to the inevitable. Early breaks contained, the pace dropped for a few laps before Downing and McEvoy injected some pace, making themselves some space with about five and a half K to go, Oliphant jumped away from the pack with 25 laps to run and managed to bridge the gap, the trio then managing to make a lap on the bunch. As Oliphant was bridging to the leading duo, Marquet and Duggleby also put in a shift to drop the bunch – it was hard going and Duggleby was himself dropped before they could bridge, but Marquet made it eventually to put four riders a lap ahead. Kennaugh tried to make a last-ditch attempt to put himself on the lead lap with 13 laps to go but couldn’t make it stick, but Kalz and Yates did manage to make it across at the death. The pack was all together for the last four laps and it was Marquet who took the honours after a fine ride.

NettApp Endura's Russell Downing leads the bunch midway in the Championship Scratch Race. - ©Chris Maher (www.chrismaher.co.uk)

NettApp Endura’s Russell Downing leads the bunch midway in the Championship Scratch Race. – ©Chris Maher (www.chrismaher.co.uk)

All that remained was for the last two Keirin events. The ironically-titled “minor” final was fought out between Hindes, D’Almeida, Skinner and Emadi. Emadi led Skinner and D’Almeida – the veteran of the field at 25! – into the final bell as Hindes trailed but Skinner had the power left to sweep round and take the win ahead of Emadi, the young Brits taking a quality scalp in the Frenchman. With the three GB A riders in the B final, it was left to the B riders to defend home honour in the final against France and the thundering German thighs of Forstermann – Forstermann it was who led early doors with Crampton, flying under the false flag of the All Stars instead of Union colours, holding a watching brief and even laying back with three laps to run in order to give himself running room, Pervis and Palma of France hanging back behind Rotherham and Oliva, but as they came to the bell, Pervis launched a ferocious attack past the charging Rotherham as Forstermann rallied around the outside, and it was the Frenchman who had his wheel in front, denying Fostermann and Rotherham at the line. As finales go, you couldn’t have written it to be much more of a spectacle.

Raleigh GAC's Jessica Roberts & Sportcovers Levi Moody take over the DHL Future Star Champions Jersey at Revolution 39 - ©Chris Maher

Raleigh GAC’s Jessica Roberts & Sportcovers Levi Moody take over the DHL Future Star Champions Jersey at Revolution 39 – ©Chris Maher

With the conclusion of the racing for the evening, all there was left was to tot up the points. Sky Procycling took the championship win on the evening, three points ahead of WD40 who were just another two ahead of howies, which leaves Rapha Condor JLT still at the head of the series table, a healthy 25 points clear of Rudy Project RT who are themselves 20 points ahead of Rouleur in third. In the DHL Future Stars Girls table, Jessica Roberts holds a 15 point advantage over Emily Haycox, and 48 points over third placed Emily Nelson, whilst in the Boys Levi Moody is fully 22 points clear of Tristan Robbins, with Thomas Rotherham 39 points off the head of the table in third. In the Elite class, Ed Clancy holds sway on 88 points after round 3, John Dibben some 28 points in arrears in second and Marcel Kalz in third on 45.

The series leaves Manchester now to head north for the fourth and final round at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome on the 2nd of February. If the response of the crowd is anything to go by, sold out in Manchester for the third time this series, if you’re a fan of cycling and you can make your way there, you’d be a fool not to go…

Don’t forget to enter our howies Revolution Series T-Shirt Competition by clicking here.

You can catch the highlights show on ITV4 at 20:00hrs on Wednesday 09/01/2013 and afterwards on ITV Player in the UK, for those outside the UK you can watch an edited highlights show on the Revolution Series website and YouTube channel.

You can download the full event results in PDF format by clicking here.

Revolution Series 10, Round 4 is on 2nd February at The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow.
To find out more about the series and to grab one of the few remaining tickets left for the Finale of the season at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow visit: www.cyclingrevolution.com

 

British Cycling National Madison Championship 2013 50km (200 Laps) – Race time: 59:16.510

1 George Atkins (USN) / Jon Mould (UK Youth) 36pts
2 Adam Blythe (BMC) / Peter Kennaugh (Sky Pro Cycling) 33pts
3 Russ Downing (NetApp-Endura) / Jonny McEvoy (NetApp-Endura) 25pts
4 James McCallum (Rapha Condor JLT) / Michael Nicolson (unattached) 6pts -1Lap
5 Russell Hampton (Raleigh) / Evan Oliphant (Raleigh) 7pts -2Laps
6 Adam Lewis (Wolverhampton Wheelers) / William Rudgard (Wolverhampton Wheelers) 0pts -3Laps
7 Peter Williams (IG Sigmasport) / Tom Murray (IG Sigmasport) 1pt -4Laps
8 Stephen Bradbury (Tomacc) / Jack Kirk (VC Hyerois) 0pts -6Laps
9 Ryan Whatmough (Shepherds Cycles) / Paul Whatmough (Shepherds Cycles) 0pts -10Laps
10 Jack Cracknell (V-Sprint Racing) / James Locker (V-Sprint Racing) DNF

Future Stars Madison Girls 15000m – Race Time: 20:09.486

1 Team Sky 12pts
2 howies 8pts
3 Maxgear Racing 4pts
4 FACE Partnership 0pts
5 Rouleur 1pts
6 Sportscover 0pts
7 Rudy Project RT 3pts -1Lap
8 Raleigh-GAC 2pts -1Lap
9 IG Sigmasport 0pts -1Lap
10 Rahpa Condor Sharp JLT 0pts -1Lap
11 NetApp-Endura 0pts -1Lap
12 WD40 0pts -2Laps

Future Stars Madison Girls 15000m – Race Time: 14:52.973

1 IG Sigmasport 13pts
2 Rudy Project RT 6pts
3 Sportscover 5pts
4 NetApp-Endura 5pts
5 howies 2pts
6 WD40 1pts
7 Rapha Condor Sharp 1pts
8 Team Sky 2pts 0pts -1Lap
9 Raleigh-GAC 0pts -1Lap
10 FACE Partnership 0pts -2Laps
11 Rouleur 0pts -2Laps
12 Maxgear Racing 0pts -4Laps

Revolution Series

Elite Championship Standings after Round 3

1 Rapha Condor Sharp JLT 160
2 Rudy Project RT 135
3 Rouleur 125
4 Sky Procycling 122
5 howies 110
6 Maxgear 103
7 WD40 100
8 FACE 84
9 NetApp-Endura 72
10 IG-Sigma Sport 70
11 Sportscover 57
12 Raleigh-GAC 32

1 Ed CLANCY Rapha Condor Sharp 88
2 John DIBBEN Rouleur 50
3 Marcel KALZ Rudy Project RT 45
4 Simon YATES Maxgear Racing 44
5 Russell DOWNING NetApp Endura 40
6 Andy TENNANT Rapha Condor Sharp 40

DHL Future Stars Championship Standings after Round 3

1 howies 586
2 Sky Procycling 559
3 IG-Sigma Sport 536
4 Rudy Project RT 535
5 Raleigh-GAC 512
6 Sportscover 485
7 FACE Partnership 478
8 Rapha Condor Sharp 462
9 Maxgear Racing 435
10 WD40 434
11 NetApp Endura 409
12 Rouleur 402

Future Stars Girls After Round 3
1 Jessica ROBERTS Raleigh GAC 197
2 Emily HAYCOX Howies 182
3 Emily NELSON IG Sigmasport 149
4 Grace GARNER Sky Procycling 148
5 Lauren O’Brien NetApp Endura 126
6 Victoria KINRADE Rouleur 123

Future Stars Boys After Round 3
1 Levi MOODY Sportscover 206
2 Tristan ROBBINS Howies 184
3 Thomas ROTHERHAM Maxgear Racing 167
4 Joe EVANS Rudy Project RT 162
5 Jake KELLY Rudy Project RT 140
6 Maximilian STEADMAN IG Sigmasport 139

 

Race Results Revolution 39

Elite Mens Flying Lap
1 CLANCY Ed Rapha Condor Sharp 13.160
2 EDGAR Ross IG Sigmasport 13.541
3 KALZ Marcel Rudy Project RT 13.798
4 MARGUET Tristan FACE Partnership 13.912
5 DE BUYST Jasper Rouleur 14.090
6 BLYTHE Adam WD40 14.397

Elite Mens 1km Madison Time Trial
1 RUDY PROJECT RT 54.922
2 TEAM SKY 57.934
3 FACE PARTNERSHIP 58.184
4 WD40 58.264
5 RAPHA-CONDOR-SHARP Rapha Condor Sharp 58.364
6 HOWIES 58.745

Elite Mens Points Race
1 KENNAUGH Peter Sky Procycling
2 YATES Adam Maxgear Racing
3 DOWNING Russell NetApp Endura
4 MARVULLI Franco howies
5 OLIPHANT Evan Raleigh-GAC
6 BLYTHE Adam WD40

Elite Mens Devil Elimination Race
1 CLANCY Ed Rapha Condor Sharp JLT
2 MARVULLI Franco howies
3 MOULD Jon howies
4 BLYTHE Adam WD40
5 ATKINS George WD40
6 YATES Adam Maxgear Racing

Elite Mens Scratch Race
1 MARGUET Tristan FACE Partnership
2 IRVINE Martin Team Sky
3 OLIPHANT Evan Raleigh-GAC
4 MCEVOY Jonny NetApp Endura
5 KALZ Marcel Rudy Project RT
6 YATES Adam Maxgear Racing

 

DHL Future Stars Girls

Points Race
1 SHAW Lucy Rudy Project RT
2 GARNER Grace Sky Procycling
3 HAYCOX Emily howies
4 CAPEWELL Sophie WD40
5 COLBOURNE Henrietta Sportscover
6 ROBERTS Jessica Raleigh GAC

6 Lap Dash
1 GARNER Grace Sky Procycling
2 MILLWARD Paige IG Sigmasport
3 SHAW Lucy Rudy Project RT
4 HAYCOX Emily howies
5 DENTUS Abbie FACE Partnership
6 KINRADE Victoria Rouleur

Scratch Race
1 GARNER Grace Sky Procycling
2 ROBERTS Jessica Raleigh GAC
3 SHAW Lucy Rudy Project RT
4 BROUGHTON Charlotte Sky Procycling
5 HAYCOX Emily howies
6 DENTUS Abbie FACE Partnership

 

DHL Future Stars Boys

Scratch Race
1 PARTINGTON Joel Sky Procycling
2 ROTHERHAM Tom Maxgear Racing
3 EVANS Joe Rudy Project RT
4 BAILLIE Karl Sky Procycling
5 MOODY Levi Sportscover
6 CULLAIGH Gabriel NetApp Endura

6 Lap Dash
1 ROTHERHAM Tom Maxgear Racing
2 KELLY Jake Rudy Project RT
3 TRUMAN Joe Rouleur
4 MOODY Levi Sportscover
5 HOLT Joe IG Sigmasport
6 STEADMAN Maximilian IG Sigmasport

Points Race
1 ROTHERHAM Tom Maxgear Racing
2 MOODY Levi Sportscover
3 CULLAIGH Gabriel NetApp Endura
4 KELLY Jake Rudy Project RT
5 EVANS Joe Rudy Project RT
6 ROBBINS Tristan Howies

 

Revolution Sprint Events

Sprint 200m – Time: 10:662
1 PERVIS Francois France
2 SKINNER Callum Great Britain A

Keirin 200m Time: 10:536
1 PERVIS Francois France
2 FORSTERMANN Robert All Stars
3 ROTHERHAM Matt Great Britain B
4 OLIVIA Louis Great Britain B
5 CRAMPTON Matt All Stars
6 PALMA Julien France

Team Sprint Heats
Heat 1
1 All Stars (Forstermann, Crampton & Daniel) 46.067
2 Great Britain B (Oliva, Rotherham & Paul) 46.415

Heat 2
1 France (Pervis, D’Almeida & Palma) 45.012
2 Great Britain A (Hindes, Skinner & Emadi) 45.037

Revolution 35 Report

 

[flagallery gid=9 name=”Gallery”]

Click SL (slideshow) or FS (fullscreen)

Cycling Shorts turns Paparazzi at the Revolution.
Words by Anna Magrath, Images by John Allen

The crowds started spilling in to the velodrome, and with just 15 minutes to go the velodrome was packed. A really excellent turnout for the first Revolution of the new year and, considering there was another major cycling event taking place on the same weekend [British Cyclo-Cross Championships], it was great to see a sell out crowd.
Tonight we’d see the Revolution debut of Luke Rowe in his new Team Sky colours and a tantalising tandem omnium between GB and the Netherlands, I think I recall a distant memory of tandems competing within a Revolution, but if it happened it was a long time ago…. it was going to be great to see them in action.
There was a slight hitch in the proceedings for Cunga as they were missing all three of their élite riders, so the pressure was on their Future Stars riders. It just so happens they have the current DHL Girls leader Emily Kay and strong riders like Adam Lewis and Emily Nelson in their ranks, but it was a tough evening for the team in their half empty pen.
Heading into the 35th Revolution the overall standings were led by Team UK Youth with 370 points followed by Maxgear racing on 341.
The yellow jerseys in the DHL Future Stars Championships were still being held by Emily Kay and Jake Ragan, Emily will win the championship now by a huge margin, she’s won every race of the season, lets see what treats tonight holds in store…
The first race of the evening was the Elite 10km Scratch Race, spread out over 40 laps of the track the riders got off to a fast but evenly paced start Luke Rowe went off the front of the pack to test everyone and was joined by a Team UK Youth rider for a while, but both decided not to persist and rejoined the peloton. With 1km to go Luke put in another attack, this time with Jon Mould of Howies, this looked more promising, but in the end Jon couldn’t match the pace so Luke was left on his own.He took victory in 11:46.581 soaking up championship points, with Marcel Kalz of CHEP rolling in in second place and Russ Downing taking 3rd for Howies.

Luc Hall And Chris Lowsley Williams of Maxgear Racing - ©Copyright John Allen/Cycling Shorts.

In the DHL boys competition there was a lot to play for. Ollie Wood was snapping at the heels of Jake Ragan in the overall standings, Ollie with 122 points and Jake on 143. Ollie showed throughout the evening that he had no intention of letting Jake out of his sight! In the DHL 5km boys Scratch race Jake led out towards the finish line but Ollie pushed on. Ollie came over the line first in 6:05.144 with Jake having to settle for 2nd and Owen James 3rd. It was a fast paced race from the start, everyone was eager to make an impression early on.
In the boys elimination scratch race Oliver Wood was the last to be eliminated witch was costly. It left Ragan and Chris Lawless to fight it out for 1st and 2nd respectively. Maybe Ollie pushed too hard in the earlier race, but elimination races are tough.

Adam Lewis got the boys points race off to a good start taking 5 points in the first sprint, Jake Ragan looked attentive to all the moves but got caught out and Chris Lawless, Owen James and Gabriel Cullaigh got away and tried to take a lap, in the end that was the order they came in with Jacob Scott taking 4th thanks to his early scoring.

All in all a very exciting night for the boys. The points have been shared around a bit and the fight will be on at the last Revolution for the championship podium. Jacob Scott and Ollie Wood are tied on 184 and Jake Ragan has 218, Chris Lawless is on 167.

Tandem Sprint Omnium
The tandem Sprint omnium got underway with the sprint flying lap. Four teams took part, two GB and two Netherlands.
Representing GB were Barney Storey & Neil Fachie and the punchy Craig MacLean with Anthony Kappes. The Dutch teams consisted of Patrick Bos & Rinne Oost and Yorick Bos & Bonnhof. The dutch riders finished in 13.535 (P Bos/Oost) and 13.898 (Y Bos/Bonnhof), but with the GB pairing of Storey & Fachie knocking nearly half a second of that time it was obvious that Maclean and Kappes who were the final pair on the track were going to grit their teeth and try to power round, and they didn’t disappoint. They came in over a second faster than the slowest pairing at 12.830 averaging 70kmph. A great start to the proceedings.

Patrick Bos & Rinne Oost -Tandem Sprint - Revolution 35 - ©Copyright John Allen/Cycling Shorts.

Match 1 – Both the British teams won their races against the Dutch Rabobank riders, Storey and Fachie being the fastest in 10.644.

Match 2 – In the second of the omnium matches we saw the GB teams up against each other – Maclean and Kappes took the win over Storey and Fachie. In the Dutch battle Patrick Bos and Oost beat their fellow countrymen.

Match 3 – Maclean & Kappes beat Patrick Bos & Oost, while Yorick Bos & Bonnhof jump Storey & Fachie but the GB team take the long way round and it pays off. The overall winners of the Tandem Sprint omnium were Craig Maclean and Anthony Kappes.

Ronnie O'Sullivan - Image ©Copyright John Allen @Cycling Shorts.

John who was with me on photography duty had been A.W.O.L. for about half an hour and turned up camera in hand, “I’ve just papped Ronnie O’Sullivan” I looked at him puzzled since I thought he’d been in the team enclosure snapping away, I didn’t think he’d quite make it down to the Crucible or the nearest snooker hall and back, but I remembered that earlier I’d told him of the delights of the Dutch pancake stand so it was feasible he’d taken a detour of some sort and got lost, after all we had just spent the past hour being teased and tormented by the visual and aromatic feast laid on for the VIP’s, their 3 course meal always gets delivered and served from the edge of the media enclosure (I’m convinced it’s done deliberately to torment us with our packed lunch style nibbles). I certainly didn’t recall Ronnie being a cyclist or a fan. “Erm… Are you sure?” I said, “Well I think so, he was a long way off but this character with a cap on caught my eye. At first glance I thought it was Dean Downing watching his brother on the track.” (this did seem a more logical conclusion). I looked up and there was Ronnie, talking to Steve Peters of Team Sky under the scoreboard! So dear readers that is Cycling Shorts first ever paparazzi moment, it will probably be the last. So thank you John!

 

Emily Kay & DHL Future Stars Girls - ©Copyright John Allen/CyclingShorts.

Meanwhile back on the track…
DHL Future Stars Girls Points Race 5km
The girls competition was a lot more divided than the boys, everyone was chasing Emily Kay and throughout the evening she knew she wouldn’t have allies in the peloton or in a break away but she never let that bother her, she knows when to conserve her energy and she has a strong sprint ready when she needs it, Emily is always very focused cool and calm.
The rest of the top girls were bunched quite tightly together in the championship points so 2nd place is where the competition will be.
In the points race Emily let a few points slip, Rebecca Hunt pushed for a well deserved 5 points on the 3rd sprint of the race but Emily charged back for the finishing sprint to the line. Emily 1st with 18 points, Rebecca Hunt 2nd with 8 points and Ellie Coster 3rd with 6.

In the girls scratch race Melissa Lowther left the pack early on and managed to stay away, but with just 6 laps to go they were all back together and Emily Kay pipped Ellie Coster, Rebecca Hunt and Megan Boyd to the post.

You may be tired of my repeating her name but you don’t get tired of watching her. In the girls Elimination race Kay does it again with an amazingly fast finish over Rebecca Hunt, Emily Haycox takes 3rd.
By the end of the evening Emily’s domination was obvious, she could have been on a different scoreboard. There wasn’t much separating Megan Boyd, Rebecca Hunt, Melissa Lowther and Ellie Coster, but Emily has 78 points over her nearest rival Ellie Coster. All the girls at the top of the rankings have great strength and talent and obviously have great futures ahead of them but the fight is on for the 2nd & 3rd Championship positions now.

Elite Riders Elimination Race - Revolution 35 - ©Copyright John Allen @ Cycling Shorts.

Elite 1km Madison Time Trial
The Madison was one team short (Cunga) so the remaining seven teams fought it out. All eyes were on former Madison Champion Luke Rowe with partner Andreas Muller for Sky but the CHEP UK pairing of Jon Dibben and Marcel Kalz came in with a blistering 58.422 pushing Sky into 2nd with 58.537.

Elite Team Elimination
Rapha and Maxgear Racing fought it out for the crown. It was quite an edgy race with a number of teams struggling with riders bunched at the back of the peloton dangling in the danger zone. Maxgear pushed hard and true to their name maxed a rider out in order to get the other two over the line in first place. There was quite a gap between them and the first Rapha rider across the line.

Australian Pursuit
In the Australian pursuit Chris Opie of Team UK Youth put in a sterling effort from the gun but Luke Rowe fought back and took the win over Robert Bengsch and Chris Opie who started to fade towards the end got 3rd.
Points race 15km
With 6 laps to go Jon Mould of Howies was leading on 15 points with Luke Rowe on 10. Jon added to his lead and won with 25 points over Luke’s 20 after the two of them lapped the field, Marcel Kalz (CHEP) got 3rd with 8 points.

I spoke to professional cyclist and Cycling Shorts writer Tom “Minty” Murray to get his thoughts on the evening, “The atmosphere is always great at the Revolution but tonight seemed a level up, maybe it was the added excitment of those tandems, they had me on my feet watching anyway!”
“My focus now is firmly on the up coming road season, I haven’t done as much track this winter, tonight was my first time on the track since the October Revolution so as to focus more time on getting ready for the road for 2012. Next up I am away for two important training camps with the rest of the IG-Sigmasport team and away to Italy in February”.

 

At the end of the evening I caught up with Revolution favourite Christian Grasmann who rides on the Revolution Maxgear team and played a major role in their success during the evening particularly in the Team Elimination win where his skill and experience shone through. Maxgear are now leading the Series Championship.

Revolution 35 - Maxgear Racing lead the Championship - ©Copyright John Allen @Cycling Shorts.

Cycling Shorts: How did it go?

Christian: I really enjoyed myself tonight I love racing in the Revs. I’ve done it a lot over the years and I’m always amazed at how great cycling is doing in the UK, the hard work that’s put in by the Revolution organisers and by Team GB.

CS: How is cycling doing in Germany as a sport?

Christian: We are so far a way from this level in Germany – and I’m dreaming that this same feeling will come back to German cycling, it would be nice for both countries interest in the sport to be at the same level in public popularity at the same time. So that’s my aim to help bring this same experience to German cycling while also racing well myself. I’d like to continue to do the Revolutions in the coming years. My team Rudy Project Racing Team is now in it’s 3rd year. I try to bring the same style and experience to the spectators and supporters that the British have, but we still have a way to go!

CS: You must be pleased with the team tonight…

Christian: My Revolution team Maxgear and I could now win the overall championship so it was a great race day for us. The youngsters did a super job. For me. Revolution and racing in the UK is the biggest motivation and a reason why I love this sport so much.

 

Dont’ forget the Revolution highlights are on ITV4 at 7pm on Monday 9th Jan 2012

 

For more information on the Revolution Series and to book tickets please click here.

 

Results:

10km Scratch Race – Luke Rowe Team Sky
DHL Future Stars 5km Scratch Race – Boys – Ollie Wood
Revolution Tandem Sprint Omnium Round 1 – flying lap – GB Maclean & Kappes 12.830
DHL Future Stars Points Race – Girls – Emily Kay Cunga Bikes
1km Madison Time Trial – CHEP UK
DHL Future Stars Elimination – Boys – Jake Ragan Maxgear Racing
Revolution Tandem Sprint Round 2 – Match 1 – Heat 1 GB Storey & Fachie 10.644 Heat 2 NED P Bos & Oost 11.497
Team Elimination – Maxgear Racing
DHL Future Stars Scratch Race – Girls – Emily Kay
Revolution Tandem Sprint Round 2 – Match 2 – Heat 1 GB Maclean & Kappes 11.136 Heat 2 P Bos & Oost 11.211
Australian Pursuit – Luke Rowe Team Sky
DHL Future Stars Points Race – Boys – Chris Lawless Maxgear Racing
Revolution Tandem Sprint Round 2 – Match 3 – Heat 1 GB Storey/Fachie 11.683 Heat 2 GB Maclean/Kappes 11.293
Points Race – Jon Mould Howies
DHL Future Stars Elimination – Girls – Emily Kay
Revolution Tandem Sprint Round 3 – Team Sprint – GB 33.328

Overall Points Leaders after three rounds:
Team Championship Leaders – Maxgear Racing
Future Stars Girls – Emily Kay
Future Stars Boys – Jake Ragan

For full results of the 35th Revolution download the pdf here.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Revolution 33 Report – The First of the Season

All Images ©Copyright Chris & Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.
[flagallery gid=6 name=”Gallery”]

Click SL (slideshow) or FS (fullscreen)

 
Last night saw the first round of the Revolution series 2011 get underway. As an enthusiastic crowd filtered into the velodrome through the National Cycling Centre‘s new vaulted reception area the riders were out on the track warming up. There was a real buzz in the air, everything felt fresh and new, the presence for the first time of the TV cameras brought an extra bit of excitement to the proceedings. ITV4 set up their pundit interview area near the finishing line with Ned Boulting and Rob Hayles readying themselves to broadcast.

Rob Hayles & Ned Boulting - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

The format and teams for this season’s Revolution really feel right, the perfect balance has been struck. The team sponsors and structures give the whole event a classic track event feel, with stylish new sponsors including Rouleur Magazine, howies Cycling Clothing, Cunga Bikes and Team UK Youth which is in it’s inaugural year, was set up by the unlikely benefactor Nigel Mansell. The team takes the name of the formula one star’s charity and they fly the flag for the work the organisation does to support over 750,000 young people. These teams were joined by the Revolution old guard of CHEP, Sky, Rapha Condor Sharp and last year’s Championship winners Maxgear.

The headliners included Sky’s Alex Dowsett (British National Time Trial Champion), Steven Burke (National Pursuit Champion), David Daniell and Frances Michael D’Almeida (World Team Sprint Champion)

Devil Scratch Race
Things got underway with the Devil. For those unfamiliar with the format of this fast paced race, there really isn’t any chance of hiding away at the back of the pack waiting to seize glory. The riders have to avoid elimination for the first part of the race with the last rider over the line being disqualified. This happens until you get down to just a handful of riders left on the track and they then fight it out for the win. Alex Dowsett, who’s had a very successful first year on the Sky Pro team, didn’t hang around and was obviously in the mood to show the long road season had been knocked out of his legs. With six or seven laps to go Alex decided to lead out from the front, he shot off the front of the pack and within a couple of laps he had the back of the peloton in sight. He didn’t quite make the catch before the finish line but to be honest I don’t think he tried to. He sat up to celebrate well before the line and the peloton was only metres ahead. The rest of the riders rolled across the line some time later led by Sam Harrison.

There was one thing that seemed different about the atmosphere as people settled in their seats and wandered around the food and bike stands, and it took me a while to realise what it was…. no Watt Bike Challenge! I’m guessing the reason being the huge amount of noise it can generate from the bikes and the spectators. The sound would be a nightmare for the ITV production team to compete with, it did make it was a lot easier to hear Hugh Porter‘s trademark catchphrases over the tannoy too which are always a joy!

DHL Future Stars Girls
One of the standout riders of the evening for me was the lovely Emily Kay. She returns this year to defend her title and she kicked off her first event of the series with an emphatic win in the DHL Future Stars Girls 5km Points Race where she scored points in every sprint for points and then still had enough for a final attack at the finishing line. Alice Barnes took a tumble in the back straight but she got up and dusted herself down to cheers of encouragement from the crowd. Second and third positions were hotly contested by Megan Boyd and Ellie Coster, both putting in great performances. This was just a taster of what was to come later in the evening from Emily though. She continued her charge on the championship jersey with a win in the Girls 6 lap dash and rounded the evening off with the Girls Scratch Race. Riders tried attacks throughout the three Girls events but Emily just stayed calm and controlled the situation. Emily does seem to be head and shoulders above the competition at the moment. She has amazing strength and tactics, an unstoppable combination. I can’t wait to see where her career goes, she’s destined for great things!

Kian Emadi winning his heat against Michael D'Almeida - Image ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

Revolution Sprint
In the sprint competition Round 1 saw Louis Oliva beaten by David Daniell and Kian Emadi proved he’s a talent to be watched as he nudged out Frenchman Thierry Jollet. Philip Hindes was beaten by Michael D’Almeida. Craig MacLean never ceases to amaze me, his experience and strength seemed to be too much for John Paul who put in a valiant effort.

Round 2 saw Craig MacLean make David Daniell work hard for his win and Kian Emadi dispatched World Sprint Champion Michael D’Almeida with an audible gasp from the spectators. I’m not even sure Kian expected that result.

In the Losers 6 Lap Dash race John Paul pushed his way past Thierry Jollet to deny the French yet again.

The Final of the sprint was a great fight between Dave Daniell – who’s obviously on form – and 19 year old Kian Emadi. They were well matched through the early stages of the race but David Daniell had the better of Kian in the second half and powered to the line by almost a bike length.

DHL Future Stars Boys
While the boys events weren’t dominated by one person there was good news for Team CHEP taking 2 wins; Jake Scott took the first of the boys events (Boys 5km Scratch Race) beating Zac May (howies) and Ollie Wood won the Boys 6 Lap Dash ahead of Adam Lewis (Cunga Bikes) and Chris Lawless (Maxgear). CHEP teammate Jake Womersley said, “The races went very well for me and my team, we came out with two wins which was brilliant, they weren’t from me but I tried to help my team mates to get where they needed to be. It was good to be in front of a large audience like that, it really motivates me to do well”.

The Future Stars Boys Scratch race went to Ryan Whatmough. Ryan rode stongly last season and it looks like he’s back to make a play for the championship. He crossed the line ahead of Matthew Cross in 2nd. Jake Ragen put in a great performance throughout the evening with 2nd place in the points race and 3rd in the Scratch race.

Russell doing his Fonzie Mexican Wave - ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

1km Madison Time Trial
Russ Downing whipped up the crowd with Alex in his trademark Fonzie Mexican wave style in preparation for the 1km Madison Time Trial. Alex Dowsett and Russell put in a good performance but in the end they didn’t do enough to get Sky a win, they came in third behind Rapha, winners Leif Lampater and Jon Mould for howies looked very focused and slick taking the win in 58.980.

Points Race – 15km
Russell Downing (Sky) dominated the Points race coming home with 24 points, 9 ahead of David O’Loughlin and Adam Duggleby. I caught up with Russell after the race,

Alex Dowsett Austrailian Pursuit - ©Copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

“I’m loving it, good to know I’ve still got it, I love the Revolutions the crowd create a party atmosphere.”

Australian Pursuit
One of the races I love is the Australian Pursuit. This race is one you have to keep focused on as you need to keep your eyes on the riders and their team manager, who stands throughout the races and acts as their individual start and finishing line. The riders (in this case 8 of them) are evenly spaced out around the track and the object of the twelve lap race is not to be caught by riders starting behind you on the track. If a rider is caught they are immediately eliminated. The winner is the first rider back to their starting position after 12 laps. This endurance race is a great crowd pleaser but pure endurance and in this case it favoured Jens Mouris the Dutch Vacansoleil pro rider in the Rapha colours for the Revolution series. Steven Burke and Alex Dowsett came in second and third respectively.

Feature Race – Round the World Pursuit
A break from the championship came from a special event: in February 2012 Sean Conway intends to cycle solo around the world without a support team in 150 days or less to raise money for SolarAid, hoping to raise £100,000. Throughout this season’s Revolution Series there will be a number of events to help raise money for Sean’s efforts. Each Revolution Sean will take on a different challenge.

Sean Conway on his Pursuit - ©copyright Chris Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

For the first Revolution the challenge was a 12 lap pursuit on fully laden touring bikes. Sean would be up against Vin Coxthe current Global Bike Race record holder, this was going to be tough for both riders as the track is not the environment either of them are used to and touring bikes with panniers aren’t the ideal choice for a velodrome. Sean got off to a good start but the lead swapped a number of times with Vin Cox finally getting the better of Sean and he opened up a gap and made it stick.

After his race Sean challenged members of the audience to beat him on the rollers at his stand. For more information on Sean’s amazing adventure please visit his website and please donate www.cyclingtheearth.co.uk

Keirin (8 laps)
Back to the sprint racing and Craig MacLean got his revenge on the rest of the sprint field as he powered on to win the Keirin.

Scratch Race – 10km
The Scratch Race was the penultimate event of the evening and Rouleur ruled the event with Sam Harrison winning and teammate Tom Murray coming in 3rd. Steven Burke of Team Youth UK came 2nd.

Team Sprint – GB v France
The final crowd-pulling event was a two man international team sprint grudge match between Team GB and France. Riding for GB were John Paul and Dave Daniell and for France Michael D’Almeida and Thierry Jollet. It was a nail biter and the crowd really got behind the GB team but World Team Sprint Champion D’Almeida and teammate Jollet put in an impressive performance and crossed the line in 31.949 with Great Britain finishing in 31.971. A great ride by both teams and while it may have been a bit of a disappointment for the home team I came away smiling when the delightful Michael D’Almeida pulled up to the railings and handed me his winners bouquet… a true gent!

Future Stars Emily Kay & Ollie Wood - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

Championship
The team leading the Championship after the first round is Rouleur with 204 points. So our very own Tom Murray was on the podium I had a chat with him afterwards, “I’m trying to find my track legs still! So not at my best tonight, but a great result for the team, but always a good laugh doing Revolutions with a big crowd”. Emily Kay (Cunga Bikes) now leads the girls DHL future stars competition with 90 points and looks like she has no intention of giving up her long held crown. Ollie Wood (CHEP) leads the boys competition with 50 points. It looks like it’s going to be an excellent series so don’t leave it too late to book. The next meeting will be headlined by Sky’s Geraint Thomas and Mark Cavendishwith more to be announced shortly.

Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

Watch highlights on Monday 31st October
at 7pm on ITV4 in the UK

To buy tickets or to find out more about the Revolution please click here.

Revolution Team Championship

1 Rouleur204
2 Team UK Youth 190
3 Sky Procycling 165
4 CHEP 160
5 howies 159
6 Cunga Bikes 158
7 Maxgear Racing 154
8 Rapha Condor Sharp 132

Future Stars Girls Leader
Emily Kay

Future Stars Boys Leader
Oliver Wood
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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