Revolution cycling series Archives

2013 – The Revolution Moves Up A Gear!

by Anna Magrath | Oct 27, 2013

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Doull & Burke Show How To Ride A Rev!

The Revolution moves up a gear – The new season has seen an expansion from 4 to 5 rounds and the racing will take place at London, Glasgow and Manchester – tonights action coming from Manchester. Throughout the series there will be a new feature; UCI qualification points can be won by the elite riders in selected races, bringing even more of the top cycling talent to the boards through the winter. These points are required by the top riders and the teams to gain selection for the World Cups and World Championships, so if you buy a ticket to one of the rounds you are guaranteed to see a British cycling star racing.

Recently retired Sir Chris Hoy who raced the very first Revolution in 2003 obviously won’t be taking to the track this season but he’s not stepping back from the Revolution, he’s taking over sponsorship of the Future Stars league from DHL (through his HOY bike brand). This year the winning girl and boy of the series will get their own HOY track bikes. “The Revolution is arguably more important for the young riders. At that age, racing in front of a full house, with Olympic or world champions along-side you, must be pretty cool. In the old days, when I was competing, you’d be going round with one man and his dog watching.”

Another first; this year we see the introduction of afternoon sessions and the fun and games got under way with the Sprint Qualifiers. Looking like they meant business were Revolution newcomer Danni Khan and seasoned pro Matt Crampton were certainly the strongest two riders through the afternoon sprint rounds.

At only 18 Dani has achieved more than most would in a whole career, by 16 she was a European and National Junior Speed Skating Champion, cycling was an off season hobby. She then decided to stick with the cycling as it gave her a real buzz, so this year she competed at the World Championships and bagged herself the 500m time trial and sprint title. Next partnered with Jess Varnish she won her first Senior National title in the team sprint at Glasgow. This girl has talent and she was showing it at the Rev! In the afternoon Revolution Dani won the Sprint Qualifier and the first of her heats in the Sprint. A cool calm and measured performance.

Matt was looking very strong, he seemed very fired up (in readiness for the World Cup on the 1st Nov no doubt), competition is very tight between the top male riders right now fighting for places and qualification points, with his powerful riding style he did remind me of a young Chris Hoy as he rode on to win his UCI Sprint Qualifier and first heat of the Sprint and UCI Keirin.

In a tight UCI Women’s Points Race Dani King just sneaked past Russian rider Anastasia Chulkova; winning by one point [45-44 respectively]. The Men’s Elite UCI Points Race was dominated by Jon Mould [Team USN] with a whopping 97 points, but Owain Doull made his second outing on the track equally as successful as his first bagging another 2nd for Team Telegraph [68pts] and Rudy Project’s Christian Grasmann 3rd on 51pts.

Alex Dowsett carries out starting duties in-between TV Presenter duties. – ©ChrisMaher.co.uk

The afternoon session concluded with Ed Clancy storming to victory in the Flying Lap with a time of 13.358. Steven Burke took 2nd coming in with a time of 13.570, a pattern was emerging for the consistent performance we could expect from Telegraph All Stars teammates Burke and Doull as we headed towards the evening session.

As we waited in the press area for the evening programme of cycling to start, we returned to our our annual discussion about our choice of jelly based confectionary laid out on the table. Percy Pig & Friends seems to be a steady favourite but the two Chris’s [Chris Keller-Jackson & Chris Maher] and I came to the conclusion the occasional Colin Caterpillar wouldn’t go amiss… well the guys seemed to be more knowledgable about Colin than me, Fizzy Pig Tails weren’t quite as popular and to be honest after a couple of sweets I felt sugar rushed out and quite queazy. I’m sure we’ll review other jelly sweets at the World Cup between sessions… and no doubt Colin will make an appearance.

The evening session kicked off as the morning did with the sprinters, ladies first…

The Women’s Sprint Semi Finals saw Jess Varnish dispatch Dani Kahn, Dani led out the cat and mouse but the 18 year old was caught with relative ease by the experienced Varnish. Becky James came through her heat to comfortably beat Katy Marchant. Newcomer Katy took out the lead but the World Champ Becky James outsmarted her – but this just really showed us the talent coming through Women’s Track Sprinting after the reign of Queen Victoria [Pendleton]. The final was going to be a cracking fight between the two top British women.

The men’s Sprint Semi Finals saw a head to head between Philip Hindes and Matt Crampton and Jason Kenny against Lewis Olivia. Crampton tried to take the front in his heat on the first lap but decided to sit back and go the long way round on the second lap pipping Hindes at the line. Jason Kenny seemed to glide through his heat, looking very much in control.

Laura Trott stamped her authority on the Women’s Elimination Race, with a very tight result for second and third being fought out between Chulkova and King, The Russian got the better of Dani King.

Men’s Elite Elimination race and Luke Rowe wins in style, 2nd Jon Mould and 3rd Owain Doull. Luke celebrates with a double handed ‘W’ after he crosses the line.

Future Stars Girls:

The ‘one to watch’ Future Stars rider for me was Sophie Capewell, she was consistently gritty and determined throughout her events, and kept popping up when you least expected it. In the first of the girls events (6 Lap Dash) she managed a 2nd behind Lucy Shaw, 3rd was taken by sister Emily Capewell. In the Girls Scratch Race – there was a gutsy performance from Team USN’s Megan Barker, 2nd Lucy Shaw, 3rd Sophie Capewell. Capewell finally got her win in the Girls Points race a whole 5 points ahead of her nearest rival Bethany Taylor, 3rd went to Grace Garner.

Future Stars Boys:

The boys races were brought to you by the letter “J”, Joe Truman of Rapha Condor Sharp managed to dominate the Points race and Six Lap Dash, the lead was held by Brett Nethall with two laps remaining but Truman hauled him in. Joel Partington of Team Sky won the Scratch Race. Jack Carlin of Rudy Project Race Team managed a respectable 2nd in the Six Lap Dash and a 3rd in the Scratch Race.

The Women’s Scratch Race was the last of the outings for the professional women on the track and all conquering past Future Stars Rider Emily Kay, who has now embarked on her professional career showed her usual flair for the track and rode a brilliant Scratch Race, never panicking or being intimidated but the big names, in the sprint for the line she saw off Leire Olaberria Dorronsoro of Spain and Laura Trott clung on to 3rd.

Katie Archibald

I caught up with Revolution first timer Katie Archibald who took a tumble earlier in the evening:

CS: How did you find your first Revolution experience?

Katie: “It went pretty terribly to be honest with a crash and a god awful devil. I’m hoping to get back on my game for Glasgow. It was the first I’ve ridden so the mass of cameras and crowds impressed me, I’m riding the Scottish Champs tomorrow and it’s a pretty stark contrast.”

CS: Congratulations on your recent news [British Cycling Academy] Can I ask you thoughts about the big move south? and what you expect to be in store for you?

Katie: “It’s still all a bit up in the air, so unfortunately I don’t really have any details about what will happen in the next few months, it’s making it quite hard for me to form a reaction! I’m glad I’ve gotten on… and I’m glad I won’t be going back to work!”

CS: How did you hear you’d been selected?

Katie: “Chris told me by phone the week after we got back from the Euros. I was expecting to find out two weeks prior to that so it had been festering quite a while, it’s was such a relief to have my place confirmed.”

CS: What are your long term goals?

Katie: “Hmm.. My long term dream would have to be Rio. Also I hope to ride for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games next year. My biggest strength is pursuing, but my biggest love is the points race. Though I will be doing more road in 2014.

CS: The Women’s Tour?

Katie: “Yep probably the women’s tour – my team for next year is Madison / Boot Out Breast Cancer and I’ll be riding with the like of Sarah Storey and other big names. It’s a really exciting time”

Elite Men’s Madison 1km Time Trial is always a favourite with the crowd and tonights didn’t disappoint, The crowds and track centre were on their feet ready to watch the changeovers, In the end Ed Clancy and Ollie Wood of Rapha won ( 00.56.001 ) helped by a perfect slingshot changeover. but once again Owain Doull and Steven Burke weren’t far behind taking second; .333 down. Luke Rowe and Jon Dibben of Team Sky took 3rd place with a time of 00.56.557.

UCI Men’s Sprint Final – Jason Kenny showed the crowd some flawless sprinting beating Matt Crampton to the line, Hindes and Olivia fought it out for 3rd place with Philip Hindes taking it.

The girls provided the real nail biter of the evening in the UCI Women’s Sprint Final, the fight for third and fourth went to the line with Dani Kahn winning third place and Katy Marchant taking fourth, but the battle for the win between Varnish and James had everyone out of their seat shouting their favourite on. Varnish just edged it on the line.

Christian Grasmann takes on Team Sky (Rowe & Dibben) Revolution Series 11 | Revolution 41 Manchester

Christian Grasmann takes on Team Sky (Rowe & Dibben) – Image ©ChrisMaher.co.uk

UCI Men’s Scratch Race: Dean Downing rides off the front of the peloton with 56 laps to go in his true gritty style, pulled back into the pack with 51 laps to go. Luke Rowe then takes up the challenge but he’s chased down by Christian Grasmann of Rudy Project. Jon Mould Goes away but has to admit defeat and join the peloton again.

A strong looking breakaway of 4 riders led by Christian Grasmann and made up with Simon Yates, Sam Harrison and Otto Vergaerde again holds a half lap gap for a handful of laps but gets hauled in by Owain Doull and the fully committed peloton. Dean Downing gives it another go off the front to please the crowd who cheer him on, with 16 laps to go the peloton starts to show signs of splintering as Downing gives up with a cheeky smile knowing he’s done damage. Jon Dibben of Team Sky takes his chances and takes Jon Mould with him but to no avail with 6 laps to go Sam Harrison makes a break but with moments to go and roars from the crowd olympic champion Ed Clancy powers off the front to take an impressive victory. I have to say the Men’s Scratch race was one of crowds favourite events judging by the cheers… mine too!

Men’s UCI Keirin Final: Jason Kenny proved his stripes in the final beating the best of the UK riders with an impressive gap to roars from the crowd.

Women’s UCI Keirin Final: Jess Varnish comes to the front with two laps to go, but timing is everything and Kahn wins in a photo over Jess Varnish, Rosie Blount 3rd and Becky James 4th. There was just a 7cm margin!

Round 1 TV Highlights

If you’re in the UK you can watch the highlights of Round 1 on the new BT Sport2 Channel (not available on all TV services in the UK).

Tuesday 29th October 2013

For more information on the Revolution and to book your Glasgow tickets for round 2 visit: www.cyclingrevolution.com

Full Results

AFTERNOON RESULTS

UCI Women’s Sprint Qualifying
1. Dani Khan, Gbr 11.184
2. Becky James, Gbr, 11.233
3. Katy Marchant 11.252
4. Vicky Williamson, Gbr 11.265
5. Jess Varnish, Gbr 11.340
6. Melissandre Pain, Gbr 11.622
7. Rosie Blount, 11.735
8. Maroejska Matthee South Africa 12.555
9. Anastasia Chulkova, Ruv 12.580

UCI Men’s Sprint Qualifying
1. Matthew Crampton, Gbr 10.124
2. Jason Kenny Gbr 10.163
3. Callum Skinner, Gbr 10.201
4. Tomas Babek, Cze 10.282
5. Philip Hindes, Gbr 10.290
6. Oliva Hindes, Gbr 10.297
7. Kian Emadi, Gbr 10.392
8. Jeanne Nel, South Africa 10.417
9. Jean Smith, RSA 10.614
10. Matt Rotherham, Gbr 10.661

UCI Men’s Points
1. Jon Mould, USN 97
2. Owain Doull, TMG 68
3. Christian Grasmann, Rpr, 51
4. Adam Yates, Maxgear 46
5. Ed Clancy, Rapha Condor JLT 44
6. Sam Harrison, TSC 43
7. Luke Rowe, Sky 43
8. Andy Tennant, MGE 30
9. Otto Vergaerde, WD40 27
10. Jon Dibben, Sky 25
11. Andrea Graf, ROU 22
12. Evan Carstens, ROU 14
13. Steven Burke TMG 7
14. Oliver Wood, RCJ 6
15. Jake Ragan MAX 2
16. Germaine Burton, -12
17. Chris Latham, WD40
18. Scott Davies, USN -17
19. Dean Downing, MGE -19
20. Kellan Gouveris, ROU -32

UCI Women’s Sprint
Heat 1. Jess varnish beat Vicky Williamson
Heat 2: Katy Marchant beat Melissandre Pain (France)
Heat 3: Becky James beat Rosie Blount
Heat 4: Dani Khan beat Matthee Maroejska (South Africa)
Men’s Sprint Quarter Finals

UCI Men’s Sprint

Heat 1: Phillip Hindes beat Tomas Babek (Cze)
Heat 2: Lewis Oliva beat Callum Skinner
Heat 3: Jason Jenny beat Kian Emadi
Heat 4: Matt Crampton beat Nel Jeanne (South Africa)

UCI Women’s Points
1. Dani King 45
2. Anastasia Chulkova 44
3. Leire Olaberria 35
4. Amy Hill USN 3 3
5. Elinor Barker 28
6. Joanna Rowsell 28
7. Laura Trott 22
8. Hannah Barnes 5
9. Hayley Jones 3
10. Jarmila Machakova 1
11. Emily Kay, 1
12. Katie Archibald, -13
13. Sarah Inghelbrecht -19
14. Mattee Maroejska -60

UCI Men’s Keirin Round 1
Heat 1
1. Matt Crampton
2. Phil Hindes
3. Kian Emadi
4. Benjamin Edelin (Fra)
5. Matt Rotherham
6. Callum Skinner

Heat 2
1. Tomas Babek
2. Lewis Oliva
3. Jason Kenny
4. Jean Smith
5. Nel Jeanne

Elite Men’s Flying Lap
1. Ed Clancy 13.358
2. Steven Burke 13.570
3. Andy Tennant, 13.824
4. Jon Dibben 13.904
5. Evan Carstens 14.021
6. Jon Mould 14.178
7. Christian Grasmann 14.342
8. Chris Latham 14.385
9. Jacob Scott 14.502
10. Jake Ragan 15.270

EVENING RESULTS

UCI Sprint – Womens Sprint Semi-Finals
Heat 1
1 VARNISH, Jess GBR 11.835
2 KHAN, Dani GBR

Heat 2
1 JAMES, Becky GBR 11.843
2 MARCHANT, Katy GBR

UCI Men’s Sprint Semi Finals

Heat 1
1 CRAMPTON, Matt GBR 10.552
2 HINDES, Phil GBR

Heat 2
1 KENNY, Jason GBR 10.741
2 OLIVIA, Lewis GBR

Elimination Race – Women
1 TROTT, Laura WIG
2 CHULKOVA, Anastasia RUV
3 KING, Dani WIG
4 JONES, Hayley USN
5 OLABERRIA DORRONSORO, Leire ESP
6 HILL, Amy USN
7 BARKER, Elinor WIG
8 INGHELBRECHT, Sarah BEL
9 MACHAKOVA, Jarmila CZE
10 BARNES, Hannah MGM
11 ROWSELL, Jo WIG
12 HALL, Corrine MFR
13 ARCHIBALD, Katie COE
14 MATTHEE, Maroejska RSA

UCI Women’s Sprint Minor Final
1 WILIAMSON, Vicky GBR 11.669
2 PAIN, Mélissandre FRA
3 BLOUNT , Rosie GBR

UCI Sprint Minor Final
1 BABEK, Tomas CZE 11.669
2 SKINNER, Callum GBR
3 EMADI, Kian GBR
4 NEL, Jeanne RSA

Future Stars Six Lap Dash Girls
1 JACOB, Lucy RPR 30
2 CAPEWELL, Sophie TSC 25
3 CAPEWELL, Emily TSC 23
4 DEW, Monica MGE 22
5 ROBERTS, Jessica USN 21
6 JARY, Rachel ROU 20
7 MILWARD, Paige WD4 19
8 HARPER, Lucy ROU 18
9 GARNER, Grace SKY 17
10 DICKINSON, Eleanor MAX 16
11 CHARD, Megan TMG 15
12 COLBORNE, Henrietta MAX 14
13 TAYLOR, Bethany RCJ 13
14 HUGHES, Anna-Marie MGE 12
15 BIRCHALL, Sallie RCJ 11
16 WILLIAMS, Sophie TMG 10
17 ANSELL, Jessie RPR 9
18 BARKER, Megan USN 8
19 COLLINS, Autumn SKY 7
20 BATE-LOWE, Lauren WD4 6

Elimination Race
1 ROWE, Luke SKY
2 MOULD, Jon USN
3 DOULL, Owain TMG
4 GRASMANN, Christian RPR
5 HARRISON, Sam TSC
6 TENNANT, Andy MGE
7 CLANCY, Ed RCJ
8 VERGAERDE, Otto WD4
9 SCOTT, Jacob TSC
10 RAGAN, Jake MAX
11 WOOD, Oliver RCJ
12 DIBBEN, Jon SKY
13 DOWNING, Dean MGE
14 GRAF, Andreas RPR
15 DAVIES, Scott USN
16 YATES, Adam MAX
17 CARSTENS, Evan ROU
18 LATHAM, Chris WD4
19 BURKE, Steven TMG
20 GOUVERIS, Kellan ROU

Future Stars – Boys – Points Race
1 TRUMAN, Joe RCJ 5 5 1 0 10 30
2 BAILLIE, Karl SKY 5 3 2 0 8 25
3 WALKER, Joey TSC 5 9 0 5 23
4 WALLS, Matt MAX 2 2 3 0 4 22
5 WOOD, Reece TSC 3 1 4 0 4 21
6 PAYNE, Jack ROU 3 15 0 3 20
7 PARTINGTON, Joel SKY 3 20 0 3 19
8 BRAYBROOKE, Alex WD4 2 6 0 2 18
9 ROTHERHAM, Tom ROU 2 16 0 2 17
10 HOLT, Joe USN 1 7 0 1 16
11 BALFOUR, Stuart TMG 1 14 0 1 15
12 IRESON, James TMG 1 18 0 1 14
13 AL-RAMAH, Hisham MGE 5 0 0 13
14 BRENNAN, Fabian WD4 8 0 0 12
15 LONGSTAFF, Frank MGE 10 0 0 11
16 KIRKBRIDE, Ellis MAX 11 0 0 10
17 MORGAN, Luke RCJ 12 0 0 9
18 NETHALL, Brett USN 13 0 0 8
19 BOOTH, Tom RPR 17 0 0 7
20 CARLIN, Jack RPR 19 0 0 6

Men’s UCI Keirin Minor Final
1 NEL, Jeanne RSA
2 SKINNER, Callum GBR
3 ROTHERHAM, Matt GBR
4 EDELIN, Benjamin FRA
5 SMITH, Jean RSA

UCI Women’s Scratch Race
1 KAY, Emily GBR
2 OLABERRIA DORRONSORO, Leire ESP
3 TROTT, Laura GBR
4 KING, Dani GBR
5 MACHAKOVA, Jarmila CZE
6 JONES, Hayley GBR
7 BARKER, Elinor GBR
8 ARCHIBALD, Katie GBR
9 CHULKOVA, Anastasia RUS
10 INGHELBRECHT, Sarah BEL
11 HILL, Amy GBR
12 MATTHEE, Maroejska RSA
13 HALL, Corrine GBR
14 ROWSELL, Jo GBR
15 BARNES, Hannah GBR

Kilo Madison TT
1 RAPHA CONDOR JLT RCJ 00:56.001
CLANCY Ed/WOOD Oliver

2 TELEGRAPH ALLSTARS TMG 00:56.334
DOULL Owain/BURKE Steven

3 TEAM SKY SKY 00:56.557
ROWE Luke/DIBBEN Jon

4 ROULEUR ROU 00:58.431
GOUVERIS Kellan/CARSTENS Evan

5 804 MADISON GENESIS MGE 00:58.476
TENNANT Andy/DOWNING Dean

6 806 TEAM SPORTSCOVER TSC 00:58.618
SCOTT Jacob/HARRISON Sam

7 809 WD40 WD4 00:58.749
LATHAM Chris/VERGAERDE Otto

8 807 MAXGEAR RT MAX 01:00.024
RAGAN Jake/YATES Adam

9 802 RUDY PROJECT RT RPR 01:00.207
GRASMANN Christian/GRAF Andreas

10 805 TEAM USN USN
MOULD Jon/DAVIES Scott 01:00.447

Future Stars Girls Scratch Race
1 BARKER, Megan USN 30
2 JACOB, Lucy RPR 25
3 CAPEWELL, Sophie TSC 23
4 ROBERTS, Jessica USN 22
5 DICKINSON, Eleanor MAX 21
6 MILWARD, Paige WD4 20
7 COLBORNE, Henrietta MAX 19
8 GARNER, Grace SKY 18
9 HARPER, Lucy ROU 17
10 JARY, Rachel ROU 16
11 TAYLOR, Bethany RCJ 15
12 WILLIAMS, Sophie TMG 14
13 DEW, Monica MGE 13
14 CHARD, Megan TMG 12
15 BATE-LOWE, Lauren WD4 11
16 HUGHES, Anna-Marie MGE 10
17 BIRCHALL, Sallie RCJ 9
18 CAPEWELL, Emily TSC 8
19 ANSELL, Jessie RPR 7
20 COLLINS, Autumn SKY 6

Men’s Sprint Finals
1. Jason Kenny Gbr
2. CRAMPTON, Matt GBR

3. HINDES, Phil GBR 10.629
4. OLIVIA, Lewis GBR

Future Stars Boys Six Lap Dash
1 TRUMAN, Joe RCJ 30
2 CARLIN, Jack RPR 25
3 ROTHERHAM, Tom ROU 23
4 BAILLIE, Karl SKY 22
5 HOLT, Joe USN 21
6 PAYNE, Jack ROU 20
7 WALKER, Joey TSC 19
8 IRESON, James TMG 18
9 KIRKBRIDE, Ellis MAX 17
10 BOOTH, Tom RPR 16
11 LONGSTAFF, Frank MGE 15
12 AL-RAMAH, Hisham MGE 14
13 WALLS, Matt MAX 13
14 PARTINGTON, Joel SKY 12
15 BALFOUR, Stuart TMG 11
16 BRENNAN, Fabian WD4 10
17 MORGAN, Luke RCJ 9
18 WOOD, Reece TSC 8
19 NETHALL, Brett USN 7
20 BRAYBROOKE, Alex WD4 6

Future Stars Girls Points
1 CAPEWELL, Sophie TSC 5 3 15 0 8 30
2 TAYLOR, Bethany RCJ 5 1 0 5 25
3 GARNER, Grace SKY 5 11 0 5 23
4 ANSELL, Jessie RPR 5 20 0 5 22
5 ROBERTS, Jessica USN 3 1 4 0 4 21
6 JACOB, Lucy RPR 3 1 7 0 4 20
7 COLBORNE, Henrietta MAX 3 2 0 3 19
8 BARKER, Megan USN 1 2 5 0 3 18
9 MILWARD, Paige WD4 2 3 0 2 17
10 CHARD, Megan TMG 2 13 0 2 16
11 HARPER, Lucy ROU 2 16 0 2 15
12 WILLIAMS, Sophie TMG 1 12 0 1 14
13 DEW, Monica MGE 6 0 0 13
14 JARY, Rachel ROU 8 0 0 12
15 DICKINSON, Eleanor MAX 9 0 0 11
16 HUGHES, Anna-Marie MGE 10 0 0 10
17 BIRCHALL, Sallie RCJ 14 0 0 9
18 COLLINS, Autumn SKY 18 0 0 8
19 CAPEWELL, Emily TSC 19 0 0 7
20 BATE-LOWE, Lauren WD4

Women’s Sprint Finals
1 VARNISH, Jess GBR 11.749
2 JAMES, Becky GBR

3 KHAN, Dani GBR 11.525
4 MARCHANT, Katy GBR

Future Stars Boys Scratch Race
1 PARTINGTON, Joel SKY 30
2 HOLT, Joe USN 25
3 CARLIN, Jack RPR 23
4 IRESON, James TMG 22
5 ROTHERHAM, Tom ROU 21
6 TRUMAN, Joe RCJ 20
7 BAILLIE, Karl SKY 19
8 KIRKBRIDE, Ellis MAX 18
9 LONGSTAFF, Frank MGE 17
10 PAYNE, Jack ROU 16
11 WALKER, Joey TSC 15
12 WALLS, Matt MAX 14
13 AL-RAMAH, Hisham MGE 13
14 BOOTH, Tom RPR 12
15 BALFOUR, Stuart TMG 11
16 WOOD, Reece TSC 10
17 BRAYBROOKE, Alex WD4 9
18 MORGAN, Luke RCJ 8
19 BRENNAN, Fabian WD4 7
20 NETHALL, Brett USN 6

UCI SCratch Race Final
1 CLANCY, Ed GBR
2 BURKE, Steven GBR
3 RAGAN, Jake GBR
4 GRASMANN, Christian GER
5 CARSTENS, Evan RSA
6 DIBBEN, Jon GBR
7 DAVIES, Scott GBR
8 LATHAM, Chris GBR
9 VERGAERDE, Otto BEL
10 DOULL, Owain GBR
11 MOULD, Jon GBR
12 TENNANT, Andy GBR
13 GRAF, Andreas AUT
14 YATES, Adam GBR
15 HARRISON, Sam GBR
16 ROWE, Luke GBR -1 Laps
17 SCOTT, Jacob GBR -1 Laps
18 WOOD, Oliver GBR -1 Laps
19 DOWNING, Dean GBR -3 Laps

Men’s Keirin Final
1 KENNY, Jason GBR
2 HINDES, Phil GBR
3 CRAMPTON, Matt GBR
4 OLIVIA, Lewis GBR
5 EMADI, Kian GBR
6 BABEK, Tomas CZE

Women’s Keirin Final
1 KHAN, Dani GBR
2 VARNISH, Jess GBR
3 BLOUNT , Rosie GBR
4 JAMES, Becky GBR
5 PAIN, Mélissandre FRA
6 WILIAMSON, Vicky GBR
7 MARCHANT, Katy GBR

Future Stars Championship Overall
1 TRUMAN, Joe RCJ 80
2 BAILLIE, Karl SKY 66
3 HOLT, Joe USN 62
4 PARTINGTON, Joel SKY 61
5 ROTHERHAM, Tom ROU 61
6 WALKER, Joey TSC 57
7 PAYNE, Jack ROU 56
8 IRESON, James TMG 54
9 WALLS, Matt MAX 49
10 CARLIN, Jack RPR 48
11 KIRKBRIDE, Ellis MAX 45
12 LONGSTAFF, Frank MGE 43
13 AL-RAMAH, Hisham MGE 40
14 WOOD, Reece TSC 39
15 BALFOUR, Stuart TMG 37
16 BOOTH, Jacob RPR 35
17 BRAYBROOKE, Alex WD4 33
18 BRENNAN, Fabian WD4 29
19 MORGAN, Luke RCJ 26
20 NETHALL, Brett USN 21

The Revolution Continues…. The Manx Missile returns to the Track

by Anna Magrath | Nov 21, 2011

Rob Hayles Retirement Presentation - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

Saturday night saw the arrival of the much anticipated second Revolution of the season and the return of Mark Cavendish to the track after more than 2 years. Mark’s last outing was at the World Championships in 2009 and as a former World Madison Champion it was great to see him back at the track reunited (if only for a manly hug) with his former partner Rob Hayles. Since then we’ve witnessed Cavendish conquer the road in his gutsy and punchy style. It would be great to see what he could achieve tonight.

We arrived to set up about 4pm and the press and team areas were already buzzing, everyone was talking about Cav and whether he’d arrived yet. After investigating we heard the news that he had already arrived before most of the press had even got parked, he was keeping a low profile until later… who could blame him. Every new arrival to the press area wanted to know if Cav was doing interviews and could they be added to the list. It was all very vague, he wasn’t really wanting to do interviews and it would be a case of catching him if and when you could, and IF his PR would let you get near him. It didn’t seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the collective.

The atmosphere seemed to be fuelled by events at a larger venue across the road, Man City were playing at home to Newcastle United and you could hear the cheers of the home crowd as the goals went in… 3 in total. The velodrome car park and SportsCity were overflowing with football fans cars, so I was quite surprised to see the steady flow of Revolution season ticket holders when their doors were opened at about the time Manchester City fans were merrily leaving, it must have been gridlock outside as the football crowds dispersed and cycling fans attempted to park.

Matt Crampton and Callum Skinner - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

Cyclists were already warming up in their team bays, there was a steady stream of people from the media area back and forth to the Howies team area to see if the Manx man was about to appear. Other riders were also grabbing a lot of attention, Team Sky were represented by Geraint Thomas and Alex Dowsett after their hugely successful long road seasons and the media were hungry for soundbites, Rapha had the imposing figure of Ed Clancy.

Finally the compact figure of Mark Cavendish appeared looking smartly groomed sporting his pristine World Champion Jersey, a huge smile and what looked like a Movember Moustache or it could have just been an out of season look, there were a couple of slightly fuzz covered faces about, possibly tache attempts, facial hair isn’t the usual sight at a track meet.

Team UK Youth were being headed by their charismatic co-owner, the always delightful Magnus Backstedt who was feverishly signing autographs throughout the evening for anyone who asked, taking time to have conversations with all the young boys and girls who approached him, most of whom barely came up to his knees, bent double he would reach down to take their notepads and comment on their cool sunglasses, telling them how smart they looked in their replica team shirts, this made their day and with little puffed out chests and beaming smiles they headed back autographs and pens in hand to their mums and dads. Magnus really is in his element at these sorts of events connecting so well with the public. Tonight he would have a bike frame up for grabs as a prize for a Team UK Youth Prize Draw and tickets were selling like hot cakes. We grabbed a few words with Magnus, “It’s great to see such a huge crowd, I really enjoy being back at the track and hopefully the team will perform well tonight.”

There were less international cyclists presents at this Revolution, there may not have been quantity but there certainly was quality in the shape of flamboyant Franco Marvulli and Iljo Keisse the European Madison Champion. ITV4 were setting up their pundit station by the finish line which is now part of the Revolution experience, Ned Boulting flitting around from the media area to his set chatting away with the recently retired Rob Hayes his presenting partner. When the doors finally opened you could feel the excitement in the crowd, the whole velodrome was packed to the rafters, no spare standing room around the curves, all seats taken, the VIP area was about to take it’s first dinner course of the evening.

The riders swarmed around the track doing a few warm up laps and with about 20 minutes to go Mark Cavendish decided to take to the boards and the crown went wild, his distinct hunched riding style, trademark thick framed sunglasses and diminutive torso highlighted by his banded white jersey really stood out in the peloton of rather rangy leggy riders. When the teams were introduced before racing commenced and Howies took their turn to ride the Cote d’Azur Mark received a standing ovation. I grabbed a word with Geraint, how do you feel being back at the track? “It’s great and it’s going to be a special night, the crowd’s really buzzing and we haven’t even started yet!”

Before proceedings got underway with the Elite Motor Paced Scratch Race we witnessed Hugh Porter, who had obviously lost track of time chatting in the centre of the velodrome doing some speedy manoeuvres up the banking followed by Starsky & Hutch style acrobatics over the track railings to get back up to his commentary position, surprisingly nimble, blink and you’d miss him.

Mark Cavendish - ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

The motor paced scratch race was over 6km and featured a top line up of endurance riders. Mark Cavendish and the Sky riders (Alex Dowsett, Geraint Thomas and Pete Kennaugh) were at the front of the pack, it was almost like a practice lead out train for next season, I’m not sure anyone had told Cav he wasn’t yet on the Sky team, but he stayed in his usual position that alerts others capable of a sprint finish to pay attention. In the end Steven Burke of Team UK Youth rushed to the front with just enough time left to wind it up and prevent Cav from jumping off the pack, he took the race in style.

The DHL Future Stars Boys then hit the track for what turned out to be a thrills and spills packed Scratch Race, the current Championship leader Ryan Whatmough took a nasty fall along with a number of other riders in two separate crashes in the back straight. Chris Lawless put in a major effort to stay away from the pack for a large chunk of the race but in the end the win went to his Maxgear teammate Jake Ragen, 2nd was Jake Kelly and 3rd was Jack Hoyle. This would prove to be the start of a great evening for Ragen. There was another interesting tussle going on in the centre of the track for those who had been sent to report on the event, a mele of press surrounded Mark Cavendish which I imagine may have started to get under his skin as the evening progressed, he could hardly move.

Mark finally took up his position to be interviewed by ITV4 for their television highlights show while the sprinters took to the track. We were also treated to a bumper selection of British sprinters, just four of them but all quality riders, Matt Crampton, Dave Daniell, Pete Mitchell and Callum Skinner. The first event for them was the 200m Time Trial and they all put in great performances but Dave Daniell pushed Matt Crampton into second place.

In the Revolution Series there is really only one girl who you need to mention… Emily Kay (Cunga Bikes), Emily has won the Championship two years running and in the first Revolution of this series she cleaned up by taking all three races in style, her ability to time her moves to perfection is unmatched, she knows when to sit in the wheels and when to wind it up to take sprint points, she has amazing tactics and out powers the whole field Emily really is a tour de force. There’s no doubt in my mind Emily is a going to play a major role in the British Cycling team in years to come, she’s destined to be a household name. The only girl to make an impact on Emily all evening was Ellie Coster in the first of the Girls races The DHL Future Stars Points Race. Emily gained maximum points during the race but Ellie took the final 5 points on the finish line, it still left Emily with a comfortable win and I’m not even sure if Emily might have sat back at the finish to preserve energy for the following two races ahead. She went on to win the Elimination and Scratch races with ease, in the Elimination race Ellie pushed for second place again, she’s really trying to make a mark against the dominating run Kay is having. Emily took the whole thing in her stride, definitely the girl of the evening and the season so far! Hats off to you Emily.

Where it went wrong for Rouleur Sam Harrison & Joe Kelly - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

The madison time trial didn’t pass without incident, unfortunately Rouleurs team of Sam Harrison and Manx man Joe Kelly came unstuck with their hand sling, the approach didn’t look good from our vantage point they didn’t seem to be matching their speed, Sam seemed ahead of Joe by quite a way and Sam seemed to grab at Joe’s handlebars thinking it was a hand and Joe grabbed Sam nearer the elbow, I’m not sure which element of the switchover caused what happened next, it was probably a combination of things but both rider came clattering down in front of the press area and Joe didn’t appear to move for quite a while. They did eventually get to their feet but the evening ended there for Joe as it was announced he was still concussed later in the evening and Sam appeared to retire too. The rest of the Madison event was fast paced with Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant riding a 55.351 which was more than enough for them to take victory, Sky came in 2nd over 2 seconds down followed by Howies (Cavendish and Andy Fenn) over half a second down on Sky.

The rest of the DHL Boys races were taken by Oliver Wood which bumped him up the overall standings but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to take the lead in the championship, the position was up for grabs after Whatmough’s fall in the first race and he was carrying injuries all evening but Jake Ragen put in some good consistent results after his earlier win and that gave him the edge over Wood. He gained a 2nd place in the Elimination and a 3rd place in the Points Race.

In the Elite Team Elimination the first team to go out was Team Sky, Cav was living dangerously near the back for most of the race, when the fourth team (Maxgear) were caught out Cav just nudged ahead but Howies couldn’t hang on much longer and the next and final elimination was Cavendish and his Team, they managed 3rd. The victorious team was Rapha with Keisse putting in a great ride representing the whole Rouleur team on his own as Kelly and Harrison retired. The big surprise was Team Sky being caught out at the first elimination.

Over the 3 rounds of the Revolution Sprint Matt Crampton got the better of the field stacking up some omnium points and doing the same in the Keirin by pipping Callum Skinner to the post, but it wasn’t enough to take the overall Sprint Omnium title from Dave Daniell who had been consistent all evening after his initial win in the 200m TT and his emphatic win in the 500m TT at the end of the evening.

In the Australian Pursuit Sky redeemed themselves after their disappointing result in the Elimination Race when Peter Kennaugh won over David O’Loughlin (Cunga Bikes).

Rob Hayes & Mark Cavendish interview - Image ©Copyright Ben Dando @ Cycling Shorts.

After the Pursuit there was a special presentation to mark Rob Hayles retirement, Rob did a lap of honour to yet another standing ovation he then rode through a guard of honour of all the elite riders with their bikes, Rob then dismounted and was greet with a hug by his old madison partner Mark Cavendish. Rob and Mark where then interviewed together by the ever enthusiastic Hugh Porter, he reminded everyone that Mark’s next major competition would be the BBC Sports Personality of the Year and he urged all present to vote for him… and who can argue with that… I urge you to do the same, I can’t think of a sportsman or woman who deserves it more! So don’t forget to have his number on speed dial on the evening of 22nd December 2011, it will be broadcast live from MediaCity, Salford Quays, Manchester, UK.

The real highlight of the evening was the Scratch Race, Team Sky really showed their strength, first of all Alex Dowsett rode off the front whcih has become his trademark all season, seeing the danger the peloton pulled him back and a small peloton of riders went off the front for a few laps. Spotting a chance Geraint Thomas and Peter Kennaugh leapt off the front to break away, it was almost like Sky had scripted the race, but they only stayed away briefly and gave up and returned to the pack, it seemed like they were waiting for someone to come and join them. Then there was a second attack from Alex Dowsett, now it became clear they were just trying to tire the whole pack by hitting and hitting again. Ed Clancy had had enough of this and saw his chance to go but Sky were on to him and Geraint pulled him back. Through all of this the crowd were going wild and everyone was on their feet, everyone had their eye on Cav who was sat on Franco Marvulli’s wheel, he basically stayed up front and out of trouble in around 5th place most of the race, assessing the field the whole time, he looked so at home. With five laps to go he was still sitting pretty in 5th and as the tempo raised his Howies lead out man Jon Mould dropped off the front and the Manx Missile launched. It was an awesome sight to see such speed and acceleration at the Manchester Velodrome where it all began for Mark. He crossed the line in style and the whole velodrome erupted.

Magnus’s hopes came to fruition tonight when Team UK Youth stepped onto the podium to take the lead in the Team Championship.

It was one of the best evenings of cycling I’ve seen in a long while and you can see the highlights for yourself at 7pm on ITV4 (UK) tonight!

Results:
Motor Paced Scratch Race – Steven Burke Team UK Youth
DHL Future Stars Scratch Race – Boys – Jake Ragen Maxgear Racing
Revolution Sprint Omnium – 200m TT – Dave Daniell 10.285
DHL Future Stars Points Race – Girls – Emily Kay Cunga Bikes
1km Madison Time Trial – Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant Rapha Condor Sharp
DHL Future Stars Elimination – Boys – Oliver Wood
Revolution Sprint Round 1 – Heat 1 – Matt Crampton 10.606 Heat 2 Dave Daniell 10.647
Team Elimination – Rapha Condor Sharp (Andy Tennant)
DHL Future Stars Scratch Race – Girls – Emily Kay
Revolution Sprint Round 2 – Heat 1 Matt Crampton 10.716 Heat 2 Dave Daniell 10.909
Australian Pursuit – Peter Kennaugh Team Sky
Revolution Sprint Round 3 – Heat 1 Matt Crampton 10.831 Heat 2 Callum Skinner 10.951
DHL Future Stars Points Race – Boys – Oliver Wood
Cycling Weekly Keirin – Matt Crampton 10.595
DHL Future Stars Elimination – Girls – Emily Kay
Scratch Race – Mark Cavendish
Revolution Sprint – 4 station 500m TT – Dave Daniell 32.545 (who wins Omnium with opts)

Overall Points Leaders after two rounds:
Team Leaders – Team UK Youth

Future Stars Girls – Emily Kay

Future Stars Boys – Jake Ragen

Revolution 33 Report – The First of the Season

by Anna Magrath | Oct 31, 2011

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.

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!

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.

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,

“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.

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!

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.