The first round of the first ever Revolution Champions League got under way on Friday with competition in the Men’s Elite Champions League, the continuing Women’s Elite UK Championship and the stand-alone Sprinters’ Omnium.
Breaking together the top teams from the UK Revolution Series and top name World Tour teams, the big question was how quickly the riders from the road teams – some of whom hadn’t ridden the track in a couple of years and one – Oreca Bike Exchange’s Christian Meier hadn’t ridden a track competition at all – would find their track legs.
Men’s Elite Championship
Points Race
In the opening race it looked as though we had the answer – with the top four all having a rich track pedigree. Local hero Ed Clancy of JLT Condor was one of five riders who took two laps but he left his points scoring to the end – taking a second place in the third sprint from the end, winning the penultimate dash and then leapfrogging Andy Tennant of Team Pedalsure thanks to the double points system.
Tennant finishing third in the final sprint to secure second overall with team mate Iljo Keisse – who’s ridden the odd track race in his time, finishing second to secure third. Fourth place went to Patrick Bevin of Cannondale Drapac – probably more known for his exploits on the road, but another successful graduate of New Zealand’s track programme. Dylan Groenwegen of Lotto Jumbo NL – who will ride the Rotterdam Six in January, took fifth.
The race also saw the end of Owain Doull’s participation. The Team Wiggins rider involved in a spectacular accident with 15 laps to go and, although he walked away, he took no further part in the evening’s racing.
1 CLANCY, Ed JLT 58
2 TENNANT, Andy PED 53
3 KEISSE, Iljo PED 51
4 BEVIN, Patrick CAD 47
5 GROENEWEGEN, Dylan LOT 45
6 MOULD, Jon JLT 28
7 BACON, Romain FAL 27
8 VIVIANI, Elia SKY 26
9 MULLEN, Ryan CAD 25
10 DIBBEN, Jon WIG 23
Scratch Race
A frantic Scratch Race saw the track stars and domestic Revolution teams to the fore again. With JLT and Pedalsure again making much of the running during the race, it looked like the final sprint would be between JLT’s Jon Mould and Pedalsure’s Tennant – with Sky’s Olympic Omnium winning Elia Viviani in the mix.
German track rider Max Beyer – making his debut for Maloja Pushbikers – and the omnium and Team Pursuit rider came round them all in the final lap to take the win – with plenty of time to spare for a celebration. Mould win the sprint for second from Viviani and Tennant with Groenewegen again fifth.
1 BEYER, Maximillian MAL
2 MOULD, Jon JLT
3 VIVIANI, Elia SKY
4 TENNANT, Andy PED
5 GROENEWEGEN, Dylan LOT
6 BEVIN, Patrick CAD
7 SINKELDAM, Ramon GIA
8 SAMON, Joseph FAL
9 STOEPLER, Nick MAL
10 CLANCY, Ed JLT
Team Elimination
The Team Elimination is usually a chaotic combination of Madison and Devil Take the Hindmost, but with the relative lack of track experience of many in the field it was run as a traditional elimination race with the rider at the back prompting not only his on elimination, but also that of his team mate.
In some circumstances – Peter Kennaugh’s elimination for Sky – that mean that a team mate safe on the head of the race – Viviani, in this case, was also out. It also meant a little confusion at the end with two pairs of riders – Clancy and Tennant at the head of the race and Mould and Keisse almost half a lap back – and most of the crowd unsure whether the winning team would be decided by the first of the front pair over the line – or the first of the second pair.
It soon became clear that it was the first of the four home that would take the spoils – and it was Clancy who won the sprint, leaving JLT Condor 16 points clear at the top of the overall standings on the night – with Pedalsure in second and Maloj Pushbikers third in both the Team Elimination nd the overall. Cannondale Drapac were the first of the World Tour teams in fourth.
1 JLT Condor p/b Mavic, JLT
2 Team Pedalsure, PED
3 Maloja Pushbikers RT, MAL
4 Trek-Segafredo, TRK
5 Orica-BikeExchange, OBE
6 Cannondale Drapac, CAD
7 France-Alé, FAL
8 Lampre Merida, LAM
9 Giant-Alpecin, GIA
10 Team Sky, SKY
General Classification after Session 1
1 JLT Condor p/b Mavic JLT 70
2 Team Pedalsure PED 54
3 Maloja Pushbikers RT MAL 45
4 Cannondale Drapac CAD 37
5 Team Sky SKY 30
6 LottoNL-Jumbo LOT 28
7 France-Alé FAL 26
8 Trek-Segafredo TRK 21
9 Giant-Alpecin GIA 18
10 Orica-BikeExchange OBE 18
Women’s Elite Championship
Scratch Race
A busy Women’s Scratch Race saw many of the familiar names from the first three rounds on the head of the race at one time or another but the final sprint saw riders from five different teams in the top five.
It was Ellie Dickinson of Great Britain who took the win on the line from Neah Evans of Podium Ambition. Amalie Dideriksen of VOX Women, Elinor Barker of Matrix Fitness and Emily Nelson of Team Breeze took the next three places, lined across the track.
1 DICKINSON, Ellie GBR
2 EVANS, Neah POD
3 DIDERIKSEN, Amalie VOX
4 BARKER, Elinor MTX
5 NELSON, Emily TBR
6 LLOYD, Manon GBR
7 CURE, Amy VOX
8 KAY, Emily MTX
9 GULICK, Colleen REV -1
10 JOSEPH, Amber VOX -1
Points Race
With nobody taking a lap in the Women’s Points Race it was all down to the double points last lap with Barker leading on 10 points from Evans and Emily Kay of Matrix Fitness on 9.
Evans just missed out on points in the final gallop, finishing fifth but the Matrix Fitness duo both scored – Kay taking third to move her on to 13 points – just ahead of Barker who took fourth and two points.
Dideriksen took second in the sprint – which took her total to 11 – but Nelson – who’d been a point ahead of Diderikson on 6 – took the win – and the snatched the overall with 16 points.
1 NELSON, Emily TBR 16
2 KAY, Emily MTX 13
3 BARKER, Elinor MTX 12
4 DIDERIKSEN, Amalie VOX 11
5 EVANS, Neah POD 9
6 EBERHARDT, Verena CCC 5
7 PARK, Annasley TBR 5
8 ROBSON, Christine CCC 3
9 COLBORNE, Henrietta TJW 2
10 DICKINSON, Ellie GBR 1
Elimination Race
A tight Elimination race saw the same riders to the fore. When Australia’s Amy Cure of VOX Women was eliminated we were down to six – Kay, Evans, Barker, Dideriksen, Nelson and Dickinson. And it was the Scratch race winner Dickinson who went next – followed by Cure’s team make Dideriksen.
Kay was the first of the Matrix Fitness riders to be eliminated – and the first of the Emilys – but it was Nelson who followed her off the track, leaving Evans and Barker to fight it out for the win. It was very close on the line and Barker wasn’t at all sure whether she’d got it, but she had – securing the team victory for Matrix Fitness on the night – five points ahead of Podium Ambition and Team Breeze.
Overall, that meant that Podium Ambition extended their overall lead to 35 points over VOX women, with Great Britain in third, a further 40 behind.
1 BARKER, Elinor MTX
2 EVANS, Neah POD
3 NELSON, Emily TBR
4 KAY, Emily MTX
5 DIDERIKSEN, Amalie VOX
6 DICKINSON, Ellie GBR
7 CURE, Amy VOX
8 PARK, Annasley TBR
9 CALLANDER, Rhona TJW
10 LLOYD, Manon GBR
“On the Evening”
1 Matrix Fitness RT MTX 59
2 Podium Ambition POD 54
3 Team Breeze TBR 54
4 Voxwomen VOX 48
5 Great Britain GBR 45
6 Team Jaden Weldtite TJW 28
7 Team Footon Velosport CCC 24
8 Revolution All Stars REV 24
9 Planet X BOGO PLX
General Classification
1 Podium Ambition POD 379
2 Voxwomen VOX 344
3 Great Britain GBR 304
4 Team Breeze TBR 278
5 Team Footon Velosport CCC 214
6 Team Jaden Weldtite TJW 184
7 Matrix Fitness RT MTX 119
8 Planet X BOGO PLX 78
9 Revolution All Stars REV 24
Sprinters Omnium
200m Time Trial
With Vasilijus Lendel of Lithuania and Quentin Lafargue of France coming to Manchester off the back of excellent performances in the European Championships and the opening two World Cup rounds, the crowd was in for a treat but when local favourite Matthew Rotherham went to the top of the leaderboard with a 10.197, it looked as though normal service had been resumed at the Revolution. But Lendel went quicker with a 10.069 – and then Lafargue split the two of them with a 10.186 – with 19 year old Frenchman Melvin Landernau fourth on 10.311.
1 LENDEL, Vasilijus LTU 10.069
2 LAFARGUE, Quentin FRA 10.186
3 ROTHERHAM, Matthew MAL 10.197
4 LANDERNAU, Melvin FRA 10.311
5 COPPONI, Thomas FRA 10.425
6 CECI, Davide ITA 10.468
7 JONAUSKA, Svajūnas LTU
8 SUOZZI, Dominic STC 10.678
9 JOLIFFE, Alex GBR 10.815
10 STEWART, Lewis GBR 10.849
11 HUTCHINSON, Ryan GBR 10.912
12 CHRISTIANSEN, Joe STC 10.942
Round 1
Sprint
Despite the sometimes unpredictable nature of three-up sprint heats, the first round of the Sprint went to form with Lendel, Lafargue, Rotherham and Landernau progressing to the best-of-three Semi Finals.
Heat 1
1 LENDEL, Vasilijus LTU
2 SUOZZI, Dominic STC
3 CHRISTIANSEN, Joe STC
Heat 2
1 LAFARGUE, Quentin FRA
2 JONAUSKA, Svajūnas LTU
3 HUTCHINSON, Ryan GBR
Heat 3
1 ROTHERHAM, Matthew MAL
2 CECI, Davide ITA
3 STEWART, Lewis GBR
Heat 4
1 LANDERNAU, Melvin FRA
2 COPPONI, Thomas FRA
3 JOLIFFE, Alex GBR
Semi Finals
Perhaps to the crowd’s surprise, both Semi Finals were won in two straight rides with Landernau losing out to Lendel and Larafgue sending Lotherham – sorry, Rotherham – to the third-fourth Final.
1 LENDEL, Vasilijus LTU **
2 LANDERNAU, Melvin FRA
1 LAFARGUE, Quentin FRA **
2 ROTHERHAM, Matthew MAL
Losers’ 6 Lap Dash
The 6 Lap Dash for those who didn’t make the Finals was run at breakneck speed – it was almost like watching the end of a Keirin – and it was the USA’s Dominic Suozzi, riding for Star Track Cycling – who took the win and the Omnium points ahead of Svajūnas Jonauska of Lithuania and Davide Ceci.
1 SUOZZI, Dominic STC
2 JONAUSKA, Svajūnas LTU
3 CECI, Davide ITA
4 COPPONI, Thomas FRA
5 STEWART, Lewis GBR
6 CHRISTIANSEN, Joe STC
7 JOLIFFE, Alex GBR
8 HUTCHINSON, Ryan GBR
Finals
Lendel was very impressive in the Final, beating Lafargue comfortably in two, while the other match went to a decider – Landernau shocking the crowd by taking the first race, with Rotherham evening things up in the second. It wasn’t to be his night, though, and the young Frenchman took the decider to claim third place.
1 LENDEL, Vasilijus LTU **
2 LAFARGUE, Quentin FRA
3 LANDERNAU, Melvin FRA * *
4 ROTHERHAM, Matthew MAL *
After Round 1
1 LENDEL, Vasilijus LTU 4
2 LAFARGUE, Quentin FRA 6
3 ROTHERHAM, Matthew MAL 8
4 LANDERNAU, Melvin FRA 8
5 COPPONI, Thomas FRA 11
6 CECI, Davide ITA 11
7 JONAUSKA, Svajūnas LTU 11
8 SUOZZI, Dominic STC 11
9 STEWART, Lewis GBR 18
10 JOLIFFE, Alex GBR 19
11 CHRISTIANSEN, Joe STC 21
12 HUTCHINSON, Ryan GBR 22
