The afternoon session at the concluding Revolution of Series 12 saw yet another (failed) attempt at the Hour record from Gustav Larsson (who did, at least, smash the Swedish record out of sight), the start of illness and injury depleted Sprint and Keirin competitions, Men’s and Women’s Points Races and the Elite Men’s Flying Lap.
Men’s Sprint
Scotland’s John Paul set the early pace in a Sprint Qualifying session decimated by illness and injury, clocking 10.322. France’s Charlie Conord – forever infamous for his crash in the 200m Time Trial at the 2010 Worlds in Ballerup – fared rather better here and eased ahead with a 10.256 but it was Luj Oliva who ended up at the top of the timing sheets with a 10.227.
200m Time Trial
1 Lewis OLIVA GBR 10.227
2 Charlie CONORD FRA 10.256
3 John PAUL GBR 10.322
4 Jonathan MITCHELL GBR 10.378
5 Tomas BABEK CZE 10.430
6 Thomas SCAMMELL GBR 10.645
7 Kenny DE KETELE BEL 11.524
8 Jesper MORKOV DEN 12.330
Round 1
With only eight riders attempting to qualify, the match sprint phase was re-arranged slightly, with Conord and Oliva progressing to the Semi Finals where they would face the winners of two ‘Quarter Finals’. Paul took the first spot from Scammell with Mitchell ensuring that Scotland would have a rider in each of the penultimate round matches, knocking out Tomas Babek of the Czech Republic.
Heat 1
1 John PAUL GBR 10.955
2 Thomas SCAMMELL GBR
Heat 2
1 Jonathan MITCHELL GBR 10.842
2 Tomas BABEK CZE
Elite Men’s Flying 250 TT
Orica GreenEdge nominated Alex Edmondson for the Flying Lap and he didn’t let them down – clocking an impressive 13.487 to end up on top of the time sheets. Achim Burkart of JLT Condor was the only other rider under 14 seconds with a 13.858 – although ‘veteran’ Leif Lampeter wasn’t far off with a 14.014 – just ahead of youngster Zac May on 14.164.
1 Alex EDMONDSON OGE 13.487
2 Achim BURKART JLT 13.858
3 Leif LAMPATER MAL 14.014
4 Zac MAY NFT 14.154
5 Miguel AMORIM TIG 14.249
6 Joe HOLT USN 14.251
Women’s Points Race
Elinor Barker and Katie Curtis edged away from the rest of the field in the Women’s Points Race when they took a lap together. Emily Nelson also – eventually – took a lap, after getting agonisingly close just before the bunch took off in pursuit of points – but she lost it again in the closing stages. Sarah Ingelbrecht also gained and lost a lap along the way.
Going in to the last sprint, though, Barker was a point clear of Curtis and clinched the overall victory by winning the last gallop. With Curtis failing to score, it left Barker 6 points clear with Leire Olaberria 12 points back in third.
1 Elinor BARKER GBR 35
2 Katie CURTIS GBR 29
3 Leire OLABERRIA ESP 17
4 Laura TROTT GBR 12
5 Emily NELSON GBR 11
6 Manon LLOYD GBR 5
Men’s Keirin
The reduced field of sprinters also meant a change to the format of the Keirin with the winners being determined on their aggregate placings from two heats – one in the afternoon session and one in the evening. Jonathan Mitchell led the sprint out but it was compatriot John Paul who headed the field as the race neared its conclusion.
Revolution Sprint regular Lewis Oliva was having none of it, though, pipping the Scot on the line – with a fast charging Babek taking third place.
Round 1
1 Lewis OLIVA GBR
2 John PAUL GBR
3 Tomas BABEK CZE
4 Charlie CONORD FRA
5 Jonathan MITCHELL GBR
6 Thomas SCAMMELL GBR
Men’s Points Race
Edmondson followed up his win in the Flying Lap with a dominant performance in the Points Race. Winning three of the first four sprints, he took three laps on his way to the win – but he didn’t have it all his own way.
Maloja Pushbikers’ Leif Lampeter also finished three laps up on the rest of the field – and just four points behind the Australian. But – although he was always had the German nipping at his heels – Edmondson always looked in control. Whenever Lampeter picked up points, Edmondson was there, picking up more.
The two leaders were a long way clear of the field, which was headed by Achim Burkart of JLT Condor who took a solo lap in the middle of the race and a win and three thirds in the second half – including, critically, the final sprint – to keep Kenny de Ketele two points behind him.
1 Alex EDMONDSON AUS 83
2 Leif LAMPATER GER 79
3 Achim BURKART GER 32
4 Kenny DE KETELE BEL 30
5 Zac MAY GBR 27
6 Alastair RUTHERFORD GBR 26
Hour Record Attempt
Sweden’s Gustav Larsson – an experienced time trialist but a track novice – was the latest to attempt the UCI Hour Record. It was a brave attempt and a gutsy ride, but it was clear 5 minutes in that he wasn’t in contention for the record. The deficit continued to grow througout the ride, but he did managed to break the ‘magic’ 50km barrier – his distance of 50.016km took the Swedish record by over 6km but it was a long way from Rohan Dennis’ 52.491.
