The penultimate round of the 2014-15 Revolution Series – and the 50th round since the event started – started on Friday evening with the UCI Keirin and Longest Lap for the Sprinters and a Great Britain versus Rest of the World competition for the endurance riders – including the first Revolution Derny Paced race at the Olympic Velodrome.

Women’s Elimination Race

The first final of the evening was the Women’s Elimination race and those familiar with the event might have taken on like at the start list and concluded that Laura Trott would inevitably win.They might have had to look twice to pick her out, though – no longer wearing the familiar Wiggle Honda colours and, instead, in the blue of Matrix Pro Cycling – but as the riders went, one by one, it was clear that her exertions at last week’s World Championships in Paris weren’t going to slow her down.

By the end it was down to Trott and, arguably, the second best sprinter in the field – Emily Kay. Wary of the Midlanders turn of speed, Trott opted for guile and jumped inside her between turns one and two and was away. Game over.

Results

1 Laura TROTT MAT
2 Emily KAY USN
3 Leire OLABERRIA ESP
4 Sarah INGELBRECHT BEL
5 Amy HILL RYG
6 Katie ARCHIBALD IZU
7 Abbie DENTUS DEV
8 Emily NELSON USN
9 Katie CURTIS IZU
10 Ellie COSTER USN
11 Keira MCVITTY TGT

Australian Pursuit

The Australian Pursuit saw just 5 starters – 50m apart on the track – set off on the lung-busting 8 lap pursuit. With so few competitors – and so few laps – there weren’t a lot of opportunites for catches, but Matt Gibson – who made his World Championships debut in the Scratch Race in Paris last week – overhauled Andy Brown of Scotland and Martyn Irvine – also fresh from the Worlds – caught Ollie Wood.

By the end just Gibson, Irvine and Trodden were the only three still going – with Gibson and Irvine clearly ahead. What wasn’t clear was which of those two had the advantage, but on the line it was the young Englishman who took the win for Great Britain in the multi-rider, Great Britain vs Rest of the World Omnium being run across the evening’s events.

Results

1 Matt GIBSON Team Sky GB
2 Martyn Irvine Madison Genesis RoW
3 Phil TRODDEN Rigmar Racers GB
4 Oliver WOOD JLT Condor GB
5 Andy BROWN Team Scotland GB

Women’s Scratch Race

The Women’s Scratch saw Katie Archibald go down early on in the race with Abbie Dentus unable to avoid her as she slid down the track and going straight over the handlebars on the track apron. Both riders rejoined – to much appreciation from the crowd – and the race settled down and in the closing stages Katie Curtis made a break for it.

The bunch almost had her back with four to go but lost its momentum and the gap went out again but with two to go Archibald, Leire Olaberria and Laura Trott led the charge that would finally see Curtis’ challenge come to naught. It was very close on the line with Trott emerging from the centre of the trio to take her second win of the night with Olaberria second and Archibald third. Kay headed the remnants of the bunch over the line.

Results

1 Laura TROTT MAT
2 Leire OLABERRIA ESP
3 Katie ARCHIBALD IZU
4 Emily KAY USN
5 Amy HILL RYG
6 Emily NELSON USN
7 Katie CURTIS IZU
8 Sarah INGELBRECHT BEL @ 1 lap
9 Ellie COSTER USN
10 Keira MCVITTY TGT
DNF Abbie DENTUS DEV

Flying Lap

The endurance men were back up again for the Flying Lap and the winner was almost as inevitable as a Laura Trott Elmination Race win – with Ed Clancy – second man on track – setting a benchmark time that would stand until the end. Indeed, he would be the first – and for  long time, the only one to dip under 14 seconds.

Alex Minting went second for Rigmar Racers with a 14.140 which stood until towards the end of the round when Matt Gibson popped in a 13.985. But it was Clancy’s record-breaking Madison Kilo partner Ollie Wood that would come closest with a 13.826 to secure second place and an all GB top 6.

1 Ed CLANCY GB 13.412
2 Ollie WO
OD GB 13.826
3 Matt GIBSON GB 13.985
4 Alex MINTING GB 14.140
5 Andy TENNANT GB 14.238
6 Phil TRODDEN GB 14.311
7 Martyn IRVINE RoW 14.345
8 David MUNTANER RoW 14.387
9 Jon MOULD GB 14.425
10 Jasper De BUYST RoW 14.456
11 Marc HESTER RoW 14.550
12 Christian GRASMANN RoW 14.891
13 Andy BROWN GB 15.203

Keirin Final

The two New Zealanders, Eddie Dawkins and Simon Van Velthooven, positioned themselves behind the derny as the race started and it was Van Velthoven who used this position to his advantage, attacking the race from the moment the derny peeled off the track. Van Velthoven managed to build himself an impressive lead but, as the bell was sounding, Maximillian Levy took charge of the race, passing the Kiwi and accelerating throughout, crossing the line ahead of the bunch by quite some distance. Dawkins took second place, and a fast finish by Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) earned him third place.Results

1 Maximillian LEVY GER
2 Eddie DAWKINS NZL
3 Jeffrey HOOGLAND NED
4 Matt CRAMPTON GBR
5 Simon VAN VELTHOOVEN NZL
6 Eoin MULLEN IRL

Derny Paced Final

The Derny paced racing was added in to the programme when Alex Dowsett’s Hour Record attempt was postponed – and what a brilliant substitution it proved to be. And all-star cast of riders, joined by an equally star studded collection of pacers from the 6 Days circuit.

In the Final the result was pretty clear from the off with Glenn O’Shea at the head of the race, paced by the legendary Peter Bauerlein – somebody once explained Derny paced racing as an event in which cyclists ride behind motorcycles for hundreds of laps at incredibly high speeds until the rider that drew Peter Bauerlein as his pacer wins – with compatriot Jack Bobridge and pacer Ron Zijlaard close behind. The pair rode away from the rest of the field and by two thirds distance had started to lap their opponents.

Not that there wasn’t excitement behind them; miscommunication between Mark Stewart and Herman Bakker meant that the young Scot lost contact with his pacer and, although they did re-form after a couple of laps, the damage was done.Ahead of that drama, Chris Latham – paced by Gerd Gessler – was hard on the heels of Germain Burton who, with Peter Mohlmann as his pacer, was chasing the Aussie duo down. Burton almost made contact with O’Shea at the head of the race, but in Mohlmann’s enthusiasm to get to the tick end of the action, he failed to realise that he no longer had his pacer with him. Half a dozen laps later he even drew alongside and made a move for second, by which time Burton, exhausted, had withdrawn from the race. And still he rode on, alone…

Up front, the lead changed with O’Shea unable to maintain the pace and Bobridge – who’d looked in trouble at the mid-way stage – eased through to take what was, by the end, a comfortable win.

Results

1 Jack BOBRIDGE Orica Greenedge RoW Pacer Ron ZIJLAARD
2 Glenn O’SHEA Orica Greenedge RoW Pacer Peter BAEUERLEIN
3 Chris LATHAM Maloja Pushbikers RT RoW Pacer Gerd GESSLER -1 lap
4 Jesper MORKOV Team Ignitr RoW Pacer René DUPONT -2 laps
DNF Matt GIBSON Team Sky GB Pacer Peter MOHLMANN
DNF Germain BURTON Team Sky GB Pacer Walter HUYBRECHTS
DNF Mark STEWART Team Scotland GB Pacer Herman BAKKER
DNF Alex RASMUSSEN Team Ignitr RoW Pacer René KOS

Longest Lap

The Youtube video inspired event has now earned itself a place as one of the most popular races in the Revolution series and, with a field full of track-stand expert sprinters, we could be assured of relatively few pre-gun retirements.In the end, we saw just that. The confident sprinters lined up with their front wheels inches from the line and waited, almost motionless, for the gun to fire. Perhaps realising that holding the riders for the full four minutes would cause no reason for any extra retirements, the riders ended up being held for around two minutes before the starter’s gun was sounded.

Jeffrey Hoogland (Netherlands) immediately took to the front of the race and won the event convincingly; crossing the line just 20.270 seconds after the gun sounded.

Results

1 Jeffrey HOOGLAND NED
2 Maximilian LEVY GER
3 Joe TRUMAN GBR
4 Eddie DAWKINS NZL
5 Sandor SZALONTAY HUN
6 Jamie ALEXANDER SCO
7 Matt CRAMPTON GBR
8 Eoin MULLEN IRL
9 Simon VAN VELTHOOVEN NZL

Madison

The 120-lap Madison event formed the final event of the night’s racing, and an impressive field of riders assumed a fast pace from the start – it was clear from the offset that it would be difficult for riders to take a lap.

The first sprint was taken by Christian Grasmann/Chris L
atham (Maloja Pushbikers RT), although the Australian duo of Jack Bobridge/Glenn O’Shea pushed them all the way to the line. The two British pairs of Ed Clancy/Oliver Wood and Jon Mould/Andy Tennant collected the remaining minor points.It was Wood who made the next attack, but Grasmann soon chased him down.

The next sprint was taken by Rigmar Racers, Alex Minting and Phil Trodden, but with Grasmann/Latham crossing the line in first place, the Maloja Pushbikers moved into the lead.One Pro Cycling, who had not featured in the race so far, took advantage from an almost indiscernible drop in pace to charge from the front and took the first lap of the field, immediately placing them in the lead of the race. Alex Rasmussen/Jesper Morkov (Team Ignitr) took the next sprint.

An attack from Mould/Tennant proved fruitless in the end, with the Australians working hard to chase down any threat of a break from the front. Mould/Tennant did, however, get the consolation prize of full points in the next sprint. However, the efforts of the duo quite clearly took their toll, and they soon found themselves nearly half a lap from the back of the fast moving bunch, ultimately retiring from the race.

Maloja Pushbikers took the penultimate sprint although, as the only team to have taken a lap, One Pro Cycling remained in the lead. With the riders tiring, it was the energy-filled Australian pair who made the next attempt at taking the lap. The duo built up an impressive lead, but were unable to get more than a third of a lap advantage over the field – despite their best efforts.

The last 10 laps saw a race which was fully broken up, and it was Oliver Wood who crossed the line first to get a final showing in for the British contingent. However, One Pro Cycling – despite scoring zero points in the sprints – won the race by virtue of taking the only lap in the whole race.

Results

1 Marc HESTER/Jasper DeBUYST (OnePro Cycling) (ROW) 0 points
2 Christian GRASMANN/Chris LATHAM (Maloja Pushbikers) (RoW) 20 points (-1 lap)
3 Ed CLANCY/Oliver WOOD (JLT Condor) (Great Britain) 11 points (-1 lap)
4 Martin IRVINE/David MUNTANER (Madison GENESIS) (RoW) 11 points (-1 lap)
5 Alex MINTING/Phil TRODDEN (Rigmar Racers) (Great Britain) 6 points (-1 lap)
6 Alex RASMUSSEN/Jesper MORKOV (Team Ignitr) (RoW) 5 points (-1 lap)
7 Glenn O’SHEA/Jack BOBRIDGE (Orica Greenedge) (RoW)3 points (-1 lap)
8 German BURTON/Matt GIBSON (Team Sky)(Great Britain) 2 points (-1 lap)
9 Mark STEWART/Andy BROWN (Team Scotland) (Great Britain) 2 points (-1 lap)
DNF Jon MOULD/Andy TENNANT (Telegraph Allstars) 2 points