Revolution Returns to a Full House!
Revolution Track Meeting
Saturday 14th October 2006
Report & Images: Phil Ingham & Larry Hickmott
It was a welcome return for that harbinger of winter, the Revolution Series, back for its fourth season and featuring a cracking line up of sprint and endurance stars. There was a visibly full-house, pumping music and that now familiar winter social buzz of riders, friends, families and fans all gathered together for an evening of chatting, eating, drinking and spectating. And the riders didn't disappoint as they treated us to some spectacular racing......something like this!
Note: 5 Galleries of photos from the event are now available. Click the Gallery buttons at the top of the page.
Elite Devil-Scratch
It was a tough start for the Road legends: Ballerini, Tafi and Sorensen were the first three riders to be eliminated as the Devil warmed the endurance riders up. Indeed the legends were completely stripped out by the time the Scratch Race section began. Tony Gibb was looking very strong as he led the pack for three laps as the race reached a blistering climax, with virtually the whole field of 12 riders bunched across the track straining for the line, with Ross Sander emerging as the winner from a charging Rob Hayles and Chris Newton, with last winter's Future Stars hero Peter Kennaugh just failing to get round them, having logically chosen Rob Hayles' wheel as the one to follow.
A last split second lunge by Rob Hayles is not enough to deny Ross Sander of the first victory of the night.
1. Ross Sander,
2. Rob Hayles
3. Chris Newton
4. Peter Kennaugh
Revolution Sprint Round 1
Heat 1: The first sprint went to Italian veteran Roberto Chiappa, who went with a lap to go and showed he's still got real speed as he easily held off Christian Lyte, with Elizah Greene third.
1. Chiappa
2. Lyte
3. Greene
Heat 2: How good a sprinter would Jason Queally have been if he'd gone down that route? Well, we'll never know, but he disposed of Jan Van Eijden and Marco Librizzi with a great last lap, coming over the top of both his rivals and easing away to win by a couple of lengths.
1. Queally
2. Libbrizi
3. Van Eijden
Heat 3: Ross Edgar simply sat at the front and turned up the wick over the last lap and a half, showing too much speed for Bourgain and Daniell.
1. Daniell
2. Bourgain
3. Edgar
Heat 4: This was a mouth-watering heat on paper and it produced a great finish, despite Kenny being sidelined with a mechanical. Chris Hoy was left going head-to head with Jamie Staff and the Scot opted to control the race from the front, throwing in a sub 11 second final lap to hold off his GB team-mate at the line.
1. Hoy
2. Staff
Kenny - dnf
Heat 5: This one produced the expected winner, World Champion Theo Boss, who went early and used his matchless speed to hold off the two Brits, but it was Crampton, not the experienced MacLean, who gave him a run for his money, closing in on him impressively to reduce the winning margin to less than half a bike length at the line in another sub-11 second last lap.
1. Bos
2. Crampton
3. MacLean
Future Stars Boys Devil
Future Stars were divided up into divisions sponsored by international logistics company DHL. Riders line up with Guy Elliott (organiser of Solihull Junior RR) from DHL.
The Future Stars are nothing if not eager and this race was run off at a furious pace, with no mercy shown by Hugh Porter who orchestrated the removals with his usual humour. The final sprint arrived with the field down to four riders. At the bell, Andy Fenn and Tom Buck were the only riders with a kick left in their legs, Fenn narrowly taking it from Buck, with Tom Skubala and Vince Cartwright cruising in to claim third and fourth.
1. Andy Fenn
2. Tom Buck
3. Tom Skubala
4. Vincent Cartwright
Future Stars Girls 1 Mile Dash
This was a surprisingly tactical race, with no-one prepared to risk an early attack, till Hannah Mayo finally went with two laps to go, opened a big gap and was then gradually pulled back by the field. On the line, Alex Greenfield timed her run perfectly and just caught the unlucky Mayo, who clung on impressively in the closing half lap to claim second ahead of Helen Clayton.
Right: Alex Greenfield was in good form on the boards as always.
1. Alex Greenfield
2. Hannah Mayo
3. Helen Clayton
4. Dani King
Revolution Sprints Semi Finals
Semi-1: Hoy bossed this one in great style, going to the front 2 laps out and holding off first Chiappa and then, in the closing half lap, Edgar, to record a 10.6 second last lap and confirm his stunning early season form.
1. Hoy
2. Edgar
3. Chaippa
Semi-2: All credit to Sprint-phobic Queally, who held Bos off with some guile, before driving for the line from a lap out, only to be passed in the final couple of yards by the Dutchman who literally threw his bike over the line to claim his place in the final.
1. Bos
2. Queally
10km Elite Points Race
This race began with a polite wait for Andrea Tafi, who mis-timed his race-start and found himself half a lap down - Rob Hayles carefully held up the field until the Italian had made contact. However, he and the other Road stars were soon sidelined by the scorching pace of this short Points Race.
Meanwhile, at the head of the race, an early break by Alex Dowsett earned him the first sprint. Chris Newton's speed pulled Steven Burke clear as they claimed the top two places in the second sprint. Peter Kennaugh then shot out of the front of the field to try to take a lap, before Rob Hayles activated the field to chase and Chris Newton delivered the killer blow, bringing the young rider back and then surging through to clinch a second successive 5 points and gain a stranglehold on the race.
With the field back together, it was always going to be hard to deny Newton and with a handy lead-out from Ross Sander the former World Champion duly claimed the final sprint as well and with it the race by a country mile - 15 points to runner-up Steven Burke's 6 points, with Alex Dowsett third with 5 points. It's good to see this exciting rider in such good form going into the winter Track season.
Chris Newton was clearly delighted with the victory in the Points race.
1. Newton 15
2. Burke 6
3. Dowsett 5
4. Lloyd 3
5. Elliott 3
Future Stars Girls Devil
An early surprise was the departure of Hannah Mayo, who was the second rider to go. Otherwise, the race went to script, with Alex Greenfield again showing that she is a class act, making it two wins out of two and another win for the Welsh, who have dominated the Future Stars Girls racing in the last couple of Revolution seasons.
1. Alex Greenfield
2. Katie Fearnehough
3. Helen Clayton
Sprint Losers - 1 Mile Dash
Bourgain made this race, with a surge with four laps to go, forcing the pace up and creating the perfect environment for Jason Kenny to make up for his earlier mechanical. Kenny followed his fellow world junior champion Christian Lyte and they worked their way over the top of the field before Kenny went it alone with a lap to go and the young Bolton lad left a number of big sprinting stars gasping in his wake - he's a hell of a talent and crowd enjoyed his win, cheering him to the rafters as he celebrated extravagantly.
Sprint bunch race as the losers from the various rounds of the sprint combine in a one mile dash.
Sprint Final
What a big-guns final this was! Hoy is reputed to be looking at moving his focus to the Sprint, following the exit of the Kilo from the Olympics and if he keeps riding like he is at the moment he might just make it happen. He went with a lap to go and Theo Bos simply couldn't come round him and Hoy was actually going away at the line.
Rainbow stripes abounded last night and here no nerves for nice guy Theo Bos as he waits for the call to the line as Chris Hoy focuses on another victory.
Scotland's Chris Hoy was in sensational form, as he was at the Track Nationals and beat the World Sprint Champion from 2004 and 2006.
Future Stars Boys 5km Scratch
This was another incredibly quick race right from the start. There were attacks virtually every lap with ferocity rather than tactical acumen the chief quality on display. Amazingly very few riders lost contact from the back. In the end, with two laps to go, just when a bunch gallop seemed inevitable, Eric Rowsell timed a great break and he amazingly got 50m in the twinkling of an eye and held on to it. Andy Fenn led the chase, but he was still a couple of lengths adrift as Rowsell crossed the line to claim a deserved win.
1. Eric Rowsell
2. Andy Fenn
3. Mike Webb
4. Chris Whorrall
1km Madison TT
First pair Gibb and Taylor set a high standard right from the start with a sub 60 second lap. However Blythe and Burke shattered that with an amazing 57.734s ride, timing their change perfectly and riding with total commitment. Even the in-form Hayles and Newton combination couldn't knock the youngsters off the top and Blythe and Burke took the win.
Adam Blythe throws in Steven Burke as the youngsters deny everyone the spoils in the Madison Kilo.
1. Steven Burke & Adam Blythe 57.734
2. Rob Hayles & Chris Newton 58.157
3. Peter Kennaugh & Jonathan Bellis 59.510
4. Tony Gibb & James Taylor 59.513
5. Ross Sander & Silvio Martinello 1.04.701
Road Stars 4km Pursuit
This looked like it hurt - but it was great to see the old boys really wanting the win and it was that supreme classic winner Tafi who kept it all together the best to win in an impressive time of 2m 39.571s at an average speed of over 28mph - not bad for someone who has probably not ridden the track for several years and who has been out of serious training for some time. It was a genuine delight to see these big names 'enjoying' themselves on the Manchester Track.
In order of the finish, the past masters on the road have some fun for the crowd on the boards of Manchester.
1. A. Tafi
2. M. Sciandri
3. R. Sorensen
4. F. Ballerini
Future Stars Girls 5km Scratch
An interesting race to watch as the sprinters and endurance riders sough the upper hand, the Girl's Scratch opened with riders trying a number of breaks. However, it kept coming back together policed mostly by Greenfield. In the end it came down to a last lap charge and Jess Varnish showed her sprinting talents with a great last 200m in which she rode clear of the chasers and held them off, with the visibly determined Hannah Mayo second and Jess Booth third.
Jess Varnish, complete with her West Midlands DHL top and T-Mobile shorts, streets the rest in the Scratch race.
1 Jess Varnish
2. Hannah Mayo
3. Jess Booth
4. Helen Clayton
Revolution Keirin
The support Keirin was won by Matt Crampton who overcame the combined efforts of Jason Kenny, Dave Daniell and Christian Lyte, who were their usual aggressive selves, to show his growing strength in a well-timed last lap effort which no-one could match.
Matt Crampton looks comfortable winning the Keirin.
1. Matt Crampton
2. Marco Librizzi
3. Christian Lyte
4. David Daniell
Invitation Keirin
Craig MacLean showed early intent in this race, getting the derny's wheel ahead of Jan van Eijden. Theo Bos came alongside as the derny pulled off, but as he and MacLean eyeballed each other, Chris Hoy came thundering over the top with Ross Edgar in tow and surprised everyone. Hoy went to the front with Edgar hanging on for dear life. It looked like Edgar was in pole position with two laps to go, but Hoy held on with spectacular strength and was more than holding his own as he took the win. Edgar took second with a bemused MacLean and Bos third and fourth. It was certainly Hoy's evening and the big Scot is another rider in awesome form as the winter season gets going.
World Kilometre Champion Chris Hoy takes on the challenge from the front and no-one was able to deny the big man another victory in the Keirin.
1. C. Hoy
2. R. Edgar
3. C. MacLean
4. T. Bos
Future Stars Boys 1 mile dash
The mile dash began with a four-rider crash under the scoreboard, with Alex King of the Central region staying down for a couple of minutes as the medics checked him out, whilst the race was neutralised. However, all was well and after the Track had been given a clean bill of health, the race re-started. Vice Cartwright nearly caught everyone napping with two laps to go with a clean attack, but he was caught and then Steve Hill absolutely shot out of the front of the chasers to take the win, saluting the crowd as he crossed the line, a move which impressed that old showman, commentator Hugh Porter.
Steven Hill lets the crowd know who's number 1 as he wins the Dash.
Elite 15km Scratch Race
The final outing for the elite endurance riders was the 15km Scratch Race. After some early skirmishes had come to naught, Chris Newton made a couple of determined efforts to get clear, showing his good form in the process. However, he and Rob Hayles, who also made a committed attempt to gain a lap, were eventually brought back.
A similar attempt by Ross Sander also looked doomed as he stalled some two-thirds of a lap clear. However, in an odd move, Peter Kennaugh dropped back from the main field and helped Sander to bridge that last third of a lap. Sander needed no second invitation and duly took that all-important lap. As Hugh Porter said at the time, "it's a strange old race, this, isn't it?" Several riders made desultory efforts to gain a lap, but Sander had the race in the bag and so it was left to the final sprint to sort out the minor placings, with Adam Blythe putting in a very quick surge to claim second from Mark McNally.
World Junior champion Peter Kennaugh gives Ross Sander a helping hand in the Scratch race. Sander lapped the field after a hard chase and won the race from Adam Blythe who won the sprint.
1 Ross Sander
2 Adam Blythe
3 Mark McNally
Team Sprint
This is becoming a traditional wrap for the Revolution meetings and a satisfyingly quick and intense event it is. This time, there were four composite teams masquerading as various geographic entities and the GB trio of Staff, Hoy and Queally. The main interest centred on whether the GB B-team of MacLean (some B-Team rider!), Edgar and Crampton could match the A-boys. And with a sub 18 second first lap from MacLean - the only one of the event - the B-Team did indeed push very hard, but it was the anchor leg of Chris Hoy, the rider of the evening, which sealed it for GB A.
Team Sprint and victory for GB-A. Jamie Staff who has just moved back to England with his family swings up as Jason Queally takes on the sprint with Chris Hoy in tow.
1. GB-A (Staff, Queally, Hoy) 45.259s
2. GB-B (MacLean, Crampton, Edgar) 45.409
3. Europe 1 (Bos, Bourgain, Kenny) 46.486
4. Europe 2 (van Eijden, Chiappa, Lyte) 48.018
5. Rest of the World (Daniell, Green, Librizzi) 49.063
MORE PHOTOS
Logistics company DHL were sponsors of the Girls and Boys Future Stars event.
Commentator Hugh Porter whips the crowd up into a frenzy as he gets a Mexican wave going.
Winners of the Madison Kilo, Steven Burke and Adam Blythe.
Jess Varnish, one of many winners on the night.
World Team Sprint Champions, Christain Lyte, Jason Kenny and David Daniell are introduced to the crowd.
Alex Greenfield too fast for the rest in one of her victories.
Ross Sander and Chris Newton were both in great form on the night.
Jason Kenny, after a mechanical took him out of the sprint, came back to show what he could do in his next event.
National Madison champions, Tony Gibb being thrown in here by James Taylor, pictured in the Madison Kilo.