The evening session of Day 2 was dominated by the conclusion of the Sprint competitions, the ever popular Omnium Elimination Races and the Revolution’s newest old favourite, the Longest Lap
Photos by Andy Whitehouse
Men’s Sprint
The evening session of Day 2 in Derby opened with the Sprint Minor Finals and it was Greece’s Cristos Volikakis who took fifth place overall, ahead of Hugo Haak of the Netherlands and Quentin Lafargue of France.
In the Semi Finals there was a shock in the first heat where Lewis Oliva booked his place in the Final in two rides.
The second heat was less straightforward, with Philip Hindes taking a 1-0 lead before Callum Skinner evened up the tie. Skinner took the decider to join Oliva in the Final.
The 3rd place final saw Kenny savage some pride with a straightforward win over Hindes in two rides, while Oliva managed to get the better of skinner to win the competition overall in two rides.
Women’s Sprint
Victoria Williamson was the best of the rest in the Women’s Sprint, winning the Minor Final ahead of Dannielle Khan of Great Britain and France’s Sandie Clair.
With two GB riders in the semis, the crowd were keen to see an all-British Final and they weren’t to be denied. Katy Marchant despatched Tania Calvo in two h the first heat and her compatriot Jess Varnish also managed to get past her opponent- Yesna Rijkhoff of the Netherlands without the need for a decider.
Calvo took the advantage in her 3rd place final against Rijkhoff, but the Dutch rider tied up the heat to send it to a decider. Calvo wasn’t done, though, and fought back to tare the final podium spot.
In the final, Jess Varnish was relegated in the first ride, handing the advantage to Marchant, who took the second ride and the overall win.
Women’s Omnium
Elimination Race
There really is only ever going to be one winner in a women’s Omnium Elimination – and it’s going to be Trotty. The Hertfordshire rider didn’t disappoint the Derby crowd, taking the win from Belgian Jolien D’ Hoore with her Team Pursuit teammate Katie Archibald the last rider to be eliminated. Pascale Jeuland of France took her third fourth place in a row, with Great Britain duo Emily Kay and Emily Nelson Completing the top six.
That left Trott the overnight leader, with D’Hoore just two points behind and Jeuland 14 more points behind in third.
Men’s Individual Pursuit
With the Women’s IP having produced a nail-biting finish on the first night of competition, it was the turn of the Men on Day 2 and – although it was awry different race – it didn’t disappoint with Matt Gibson catching his opponent Owain Doull inside the last kilometre – Gibson going onto record a timeof 4:21.295. German Burton pipped Dion Beukeboom of the Netherlands by just 0.07 seconds to take third.
Men’s Omnium
Elimination Race
If Mark Cavendish has ever raced an Elimination Race in competition, it will have been at Track League – the last time he did an Omnium as a Youth it wasn’t part of the event. You wouldn’t have known that to watch him as he hung on until the final four. Benjamin Thomas of France was next to go, leaving Chris Latham of 100% ME and Ed Clancy to battle it out for the win. Clancy took it, leaving him on top of the leader board overnight with Stewart in second, 14 points behind, two ahead of Cavendish in third.
After all the Olympic and World-type racing, it was back to an old Revolution favourite with the Madison Time Trial. Four teams made it under the coveted 60 second barrier -the first of them France’s Morgan Kneisky and Benjamin Thomas who scraped under with a 59.434.
Matt Rotherham became an honorary Austrian far the evening and partnered Stefan Masteller to a 58.514. Second place went to the 100% ME duo of German Burton and Matthew Gibson with an impressive 56.774, but the winners were a second and a half quicker still – Great Britain’s Steven Burke and Owain Doull taking the win with a 55.240.
Longest Lap
Matt Gibson proved thatthere was still enough strength in his legs after his Individual Pursuit win to match the rest of the endurance riders in a track stand and then outsprint them to win the endurance version of the Longest Lap.
France’s Morgan Kneisky and Benjamin Thomas took second and third.
