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CROWDS FLOCK TO REVOLUTION 1
LEARN ABOUT MANCHESTER VELODROME HERE

Report by Phil Ingham, Photos by Larry Hickmott

In what one official described as probably the best attended domestic race meeting ever at Manchester, it was a full house at the National Cycling Velodrome who witnessed some of the biggest stars British cycling has ever had in a slick evening of top-quality racing in Revolution 1 -- the first of this winter’s four Revolution meetings at Manchester Velodrome.

What an amazing success the evening turned out to be. Spectators were queuing round the building as the start time approached and the car parks were bulging. Credit must go to the hard-working velodrome staff, along with the promotional team at Face Partnership who really did a brilliant job in filling the place. Add to that the professionalism of the big stars led by David Millar and Bradley Wiggins who really turned on the charm, signing autographs and giving interviews – and it was a dream night to follow up the recent spectaculars at Newport.

Rob Bishop interviews one of two world champions from Great Britain this year -- Bradley Wiggins, as Eurosport take some pictures for a special on Brad.

The night began with a 10km Motor Scratch Race, which offered the opportunity for commentator Hugh Porter to introduce the stars of the show. Not surprisingly current world champions Bradley Wiggins and David Millar attracted the loudest cheers although Malcolm Elliot in his first track meeting for 18 years also had the place cherring as he came round to take his place on the start line. Looking fantastic in their rainbow jerseys, these 24 carot world stars of Millar and Wiggins filled the velodrome.

Bradley Wiggins and David Millar were kept busy signing autographs and doing TV interviews while racing went on around them.

10km Motor Scratch Race
The opening race was paced to within six laps of the finish. At that point the derny pacing motorbike pulled off and the riders were free to race.

With Malcolm Elliott and Chris Newton showing themselves at the front straight away, the pace was soon hotting up and, surprise, surprise, at the finish it was Track novice David Millar who took the win after what looked like a very handy lead-out by Cofidis team-mate Rob Hayles.

So, the evening was off to a flying start with the crowd’s favourite recording his first ever win on the track topped off by an extremely glamorous pair of flower girls, Paula (the blonde one) and Melanie underlined the fact that entertainment was top of the agenda.

Talking afterwards David said "it was good fun. I was really nervous for this first on because it was quite a high level. But I'm enjoying it and getting the hang of it". When I put it to him that his sister Fran from Face Management had managed to pull in a big crowd, David agreed, "She's done a really good job. It's awesome."

Asked if he'll be back for another one, he said "no doubt, no doubt."

Left: Malcolm Elliott, Milk race winner, Commonwealth Games Gold medalist, a Points winner in the Tour of Spain and a former track rider for Great Britain, said his training for Revolutions consisted of "an hours preparation the day before. Testing they call it nowadays he said with a big smile."

It was he said, "the first time in 18 years. I've enjoyed it as well. The eight laps around there (2km) flat out was a bit gruesome though -- not what I'm used to. I'm glad that's over".

Results

1. David Millar     Cofidis      13.05.795
2. Bradley Wiggins  F D’Jeux
3. Chris Newton     Corima RT
4. Rob Hayles       Cofidis
5. Tom White        VC Des Londres
6. Tom Smith        CC Cardiff

8km Scratch Race (Future Stars)
Second up was an 8km Scratch race for the "Future Stars" a strong field of Juvenile riders, including national champions and a clutch of riders from British Cycling’s five Talent Team units. It is a mark of the improvement in the standards of this age category in the last couple of years that the race was very even, with virtually the whole field in contention throughout.

A few attacks off the front looked promising, with Peter Williams, Ben Swift and Adam Blythe all looking to get away, but being dragged back by some enthusiastic chasing. Swift then teamed up with Ian Stannard, Adam Blythe and Jason Kenny in a promising attack which was pulled back with only six laps to go. With everyone wary of each other, it was national champion Steven Burke who made the decisive break going into the last lap and nipping away to win well from Jon Mozley, with Peter Bissell third.

Results

1. Steven Burke        Sportcity Velo   9.48.638
2. Jon Mozley          Cratoni Racing
3. Pete Bissell        Team Welwyn
4. Peter Williams      Ellan Vannin CC
5. Tom Murray          VS Cycles
6. Ben Swift           Scunthorpe Poly
7. Adam Blythe         Sheffield Phoenix
8. Andrew Nightingale  James Hey RT
9. Jason Kenny         Sportcity Velo
10. Andrew Hill        ABC Centreville
11. Ian Stannard       Team Luciano
12. Jonny Kennedy      Team Chevin
13. Tim Wallis         Solihull CC
14. Sam Sturgeon       Evans RT
15. Stephen Rudkin     Liverpool Mercury
16. Jos	Hargreaves     Eastlands Velo

Elite Pursuit Challenge
A real highlight of the evening was a Pursuit challenge ridden by six of the best pursuiters that we have ever had. With three heats over 2km and a 3km final for the two fastest qualifiers, it was all nicely packaged to provide entertainment without taxing the riders too much. First heat saw Rob Hayles holding off a very strong challenge from Bryan Steel, the man who beat him at the national championships.

In the second heat a very smooth looking Paul Manning held off an early burst from comeback man Malcolm Elliott, but Manning’s time was a fraction slower than Hayles. The third heat was a real thriller, with Chris Newton really laying down the gauntlet to world champion Bradley Wiggins. Newton was already 0.7 seconds up at three laps and was still o.6 up at one kilometre.

However, Wiggins came back very strongly and reeled in Newton in the last couple of laps to win by almost two seconds and record the fastest qualifying time. Newton was just slower than Hayles.

The Hayles and Wiggins final was another thriller with the lead changing hands on several occasions: Hayles was almost half a second up with a kilometre to ride; Wiggins then showed his class to put in a very quick final four laps turning round the deficit and finishing with an impressive two second win at the line.

Heat 1 (2km)
Rob Hayles 2m 17.213s beat Bryan Steel 2.18.149

Heat 2 (2km)
Paul Manning 2.17.737 beat Malcolm Elliott 2.20.034

Heat 3 (2km)
Bradley Wiggins 2.15.502 beat Chris Newton 2.17.411

Final (3km)
Bradley Wiggins 3.29.181 beat Rob Hayles 3.29.181

Handicap
One of the most intriguing events of the Revolution 1 was the Handicap kilometre, which pitched top sprinters, endurance riders and some of the best youngsters against each other. With the kilometre specialists and other sprinters facing a full 1000m the rest were given various concessions, ranging from a few metres to almost three quarters of a lap (approx 180m).

On the whole, the handicapping actually favoured the less experienced riders, with all the top sprinters struggling to make an impact. Four heats were run and two of them went to Irish riders, John Blackwell and Mark Colvert, who both made the most of their handicaps. Tom Walters and Ed Clancy, team-mates at this year’s junior world track championships, were the other two heat winners. The final was a great race, with Colvert holding off all the challengers to win narrowly from Ben Hallam and Bruce Edgar. The Irish team was, not surprisingly, delighted.

1km Handicap Heats
Heat 1
1. John Blackwell    Ireland
2. Bruce Edgar       Dataphonics RT
3. Tom Smith         CC Cardiff
4. Paul Helion       Ireland
5. Ian George        Yasumitsu Schlapp
6. Malcolm Coggin    Ireland
Time: 1.00.639

Heat 2
1. Tom Waters         Dataphonics RT
2. Will Sanderson     National Clarion
3. Adrian Headerman   Ireland
4. Matthew Haynes     City Of Edinburgh
5. Ben Price          PCA Orbea
6. Peter Jacques      City Of Edinburgh
Time: 1.03.063

Heat 3
1. Mark Colvert       Ireland
2. Ben Hallam         Dataphonics RT
3. Matt Brammieier    Life Repair RT
4. Mark Cavendish     Dataphonics RT
5. James Notley       VC St Raphael
6. Robin Thompson     Dataphonics RT
Time: 1.01.117

Heat 4
1. Ed Clancy         Wheelspin Cycles
2. Julian Mortell    National Clarion
3. Tom White         VC Des Londres
4. Geraint Thomas    Cardiff Jif
5. Matt Crampton     Sportcity Velo
6. Jon Norfolk       Yasumitsu Schlapp
7. Willi Carson      Ireland
Time: 1.03.575


Final
1. John Blackwell  Ireland
2. Ben Hallam      Dataphonics RT
3. Bruce Edgar     Dataphonics RT
4. Tom Waters      Dataphonics RT
5. Mark Colvert    Ireland
6. Ed Clancy       Wheelspin Cycles
7. Julian Mortell  National Clarion
Time: 1.00.931

Devil – Future Stars
The first of two "Devil take the hindmost" races featured the Future Stars and was a typically frenetic race. The devil brings with it its own special brand of tactics and there was some desperate, but hugely entertaining, sprinting at the back of a highly compressed field as riders fought to hold on and avoid the commissaires’ guillotine.

With the race down to four riders, there was a dramatic intervention, when Ian Stannard and another rider collided coming into the home straight and crashed, leaving the Peter Williams and Adam Blythe to contest the final lap sprint a little earlier then they had anticipated. Williams took it on the line as the fallen riders and bikes were hurriedly cleared away.

Result
1. Peter Williams    Ellan Vannin CC
2. Adam Blythe       Sheffield Phoenix
3. Ian Stannard     Team Luciano      = 3rd
3. Tom Murray        VS Cycles

Devil take the Hindmost – Elite
The elite Devil also ended dramatically and a little chaotically. With early departures including Malcolm Elliott and Rob Hayles, it was amusing to watch the best riders in the country wrestling with an event they probably only ride once in a blue moon. Several of them looked unhappy to be pulled out, though it’s an event where it is sometimes impossible to judge from the saddle whether you made it to safety or not. This was very apparent as the field was reduced to just four riders, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Newton, James Notley and David Millar.

Millar, riding with the smoothness and perception of a track natural, kept well out of trouble, but Wiggins and Newton found themselves fighting to avoid elimination. On the line it was very close, but both riders seemed to think that Newton had survived.

Wiggins began to decelerate and prepare to pull off the track, whilst Newton wound himself up for a final push for victory. However, to the surprise of everyone, it was Newton who was called out of the race. Whether he chose too ignore the call or simply didn’t hear it, Newton launched a fine sprint which "won" him the race, ahead of Notley and Millar. Only when Notley saw his name up on the scoreboard was Newton’s elimination confirmed and a surprised winner was able to claim the winner’s flowers.

1. James Notley       VC St Raphael
2. David Millar       Cofidis
3. Bradley Wiggins    F D’Jeux
4. Chris Newton       Corima RT
Time:6.54.039

Keirin
A very well contested Keirin competition brought together some established sprinters, including former national champion Jon Norfolk, and a handful of talented youngsters, including sprinter Matt Crampton and endurance star Ed Clancy. The first heat went to Matt Haynes, with Ed Clancy taking the second. The final was a real humdinger. Jon Norfolk and Matt Haynes looked set to fight for the win, but young Matt Crampton had other ideas, forcing both to drag themselves round him, which they only just managed to do in the last half lap or so. At the line, Norfolk just held off Haynes, with Ed Clancy just getting third.

Keirin Heats

Heat 1
1. Matthew Haynes     City Of Edinburgh
2. Geraint Thomas     Cardiff Jif
3. Robin Thompson     Dataphonics RT
4. Ian George         Yasumitsu Schlapp
5. Malcolm Coggin     Ireland
6. Mark	Cavendis      Dataphonics RT
12.087

Heat 2
1. Ed Clancy           Wheelspin Cycles
2. Matt Crampton       Sportcity Velo
3. Jon Norfolk         Yasumitsu Schlapp
4. Peter Jacques       City Of Edinburgh
5. Mark Colvert        Ireland
12.046

FINAL
1. Jon Norfolk         Yasumitsu Schlapp
2. Matthew Haynes      City Of Edinburgh
3. Ed Clancy           Wheelspin Cycles
4. Robin Thompson      Dataphonics RT
5. Matt Crampton       Sportcity Velo
6. Geraint Thomas      Cardiff Jif
11.566

10km Points Race Future Stars
This race was again generally very closely contested with ten different riders scoring points and all significant attempts to gain a lap snuffed out before they became dangerous. Local lad Jason Kenny took the first sprint, with another Manchester regular Jon Mozley winning the second.

However, Ben Swift took command of the race when he won the third sprint and added second in the final race for the line. Swift scored in every sprint, to win quite comfortably from Adam Blythe who recorded two seconds and a third. It was Swift then who got the kisses from the "podium girls".

1. Ben Swift	       Scunthorpe Poly    11 pts
2. Adam Blythe	       Sheffield Phoenix  8 pts
3. Jason Kenny	       Sportcity Velo     6 pts
4. Andrew Nightingale  James Hey RT       5 pts
5. Jon Mozley          Cratoni Racing     5 pts
6. Peter Williams      Ellan Vannin CC    5 pts
7. Ian Stannard        Team Luciano       3 pts
8. Andrew Hill         ABC Centreville    1 pt

15km Points Race – Elite
If Chris Newton was downhearted to have the Devil victory denied him, he didn’t show it in absolutely dominating the elite Points Race. Having been the 2002 World champion in this event and 4th this year at the Worlds, Newton has emerged as our best ever points race rider and he is head and shoulders above everyone else in this country in what is a tough discipline.

Newton’s natural speed and endurance, honed with the GB team, where he also contributes to the Team Pursuit, are allied to a devastating kick for the line which he seems able to repeat almost at will. It is this repeated ability to surge clear of the field which really defines his talent in this event and he used it to good effect in winning the first four of the six sprints.

He also took second in the remaining two, both won by a very fluent looking Bradley Wiggins, who finished a distant second. David Millar contributed fully to the race and again looked at ease on the boards, making a few digs at the front which shredded the field and illustrated how far he has come in the three short weeks he has been working with the GB team. Millar was interviewed in the Track centre during one lull in the action and admitted that the Olympics are looming large in his plans for 2004. One can only wonder if he will be lining up in the Pursuit as well as the Time Trial.

Future Stars 10km Points Race

1. Chris Newton      Corima RT       26 pts
2. Bradley Wiggins   F D’Jeux        14 pts
3. Rob Hayles        Cofidis         5 pts
4. David Millar      Cofidis         4 pts
5. Bryan Steel       Team Childwell  2 pts
6. Malcolm Elliott   Pinarello RT    1 pt
7. Paul Manning      VC St Raphael   0 pts

Time: 18.10.851

10km Scratch Race – Future Stars
The Future Stars’ final run out of the night was an entertaining 10km Scratch Race with a couple of primes. The first of these was won by Peter Williams, whilst Peter Bissell took the second by a tyre width after making a lengthy solo break off the front of the field. The race saw endless attacks, but the significant break came with six laps to go when Jason Kenny counter-attacked after a small group of riders had been brought back by the main field. As the rest of the riders looked at each other, waiting for someone to respond, Kenny judged his effort to perfection, racing clear and saving enough to finish strongly and still well clear of a belated chase.

Future Stars 10km Scratch Race

 1. Jason Kenny        Sportcity Velo
 2. Andrew Hill        ABC Centreville
 3. Adam Blythe        Sheffield Phoenix
 4. Steven Burke       Sportcity Velo
 5. Jon Mozley         Cratoni Racing
 6. Tom Murray         VS Cycles
 7. James Griffin      Yasumitsu Schlapp
 8. Andrew Nightingale James Hey RT
 9. Ben Swift          Scunthorpe Poly
10. Peter Williams     Ellan Vannin CC
11. Pete Wright        Ashfield RC
12. Tim Wallis         Solihull CC
13. Ian Stannard       Team Luciano
14. Tony Lock          Interbike RT
15. Simon Whitfield    Stockton Wheelers
16. Sam Sturgeon       Evans RT
17. Stephen Rudkin     Liverpool Mercury
18. Tom Morris         Condor RC
19. Kirk Jenns         PCA Ciclos Uno
20. Sam Thorne         Matlock CC
21. Pete Bissell       Team Welwyn
22. Jos Hargreaves     Eastlands Velo
Time: 12.50.717

15km Scratch Race – Elite
The final event of the evening was a lightning fast 15km Scratch Race for the elite riders. With Millar opting to sit it out, no doubt exhausted by his first full-on track meeting, it was again a fired-up Chris Newton who made much of the running. James Notley continued his good run by taking the first prime at 5km, but when Newton took the second at 10km the writing seemed on the wall. Newton then made it into a significant break, which also included Bryan Steel, Gerraint Thomas and Matt Haynes.

This foursome eventually lapped the field and dragged with them a couple more riders, including Rob Hayles. With the rest of the field pulled off the track, it was down to this quintet to battle for the win. Haynes looked to be going especially well and as a sprinter of note, he looked like he might upsateg even Newton. However, two laps out, Haynes made a bad move after an effort on the front and found himself isolated a couple of lengths back from the others and simply didn’t have enough left to get back on. Newton then made his bid for the line, but ran out of gas and was passed by a charging Rob Hayles, who just held off Bryan Steel to take a very popular win. Thomas was third, whilst Haynes was fourth, no doubt ruing his mistake.

1. Rob Hayles             Cofidis         18.28.231
2. Bryan Steel            Team Chilwell
3. Gerraint Thomas        Cardiff JIF
4. Matt Haynes            City of Edinburgh
5.  Chris Newton          Corima RT
6. Ed Clancy              Wheelspin Cycles

Left: My final picture of the night was master frame builder Terry Dolan getting together with two world champions from Great Britain currently riding his bikes, David Millar (left) and Bradley Wiggins (right).

The white "world champions" bike pictured is Bradley's upright (for bunch races) whilst David's is an all "Black Soul" carbon/alloy bike that David was very pleased with.

REVOLUTION 1 PREVIEW: CLICK HERE