Report by Phil Ingham, Photos by Larry Hickmott, Nick Rosenthal & Gerry McManus

In what one official described as probably the best attended domestic race meeting ever at Manchester, it was a full house at the National Cycling Velodrome who witnessed some of the biggest stars British cycling has ever had in a slick evening of top-quality racing in Revolution 1 - the first of this winter’s four Revolution meetings at Manchester Velodrome.

What an amazing success the evening turned out to be. Spectators were queuing round the building as the start time approached and the car parks were bulging. Credit must go to the hard-working velodrome staff, along with the promotional team at Face Partnership who really did a brilliant job in filling the place. Add to that the professionalism of the big stars led by David Millar and Bradley Wiggins who really turned on the charm, signing autographs and giving interviews – and it was a dream night to follow up the recent spectaculars at Newport.

10km Motor Scratch Race

The opening race was paced to within six laps of the finish. At that point the derny pacing motorbike pulled off and the riders were free to race.

With Malcolm Elliott and Chris Newton showing themselves at the front straight away, the pace was soon hotting up and, surprise, surprise, at the finish it was Track novice David Millar who took the win after what looked like a very handy lead-out by Cofidis team-mate Rob Hayles.

So, the evening was off to a flying start with the crowd’s favourite recording his first ever win on the track topped off by an extremely glamorous pair of flower girls, Paula (the blonde one) and Melanie underlined the fact that entertainment was top of the agenda.

Talking afterwards David said "it was good fun. I was really nervous for this first on because it was quite a high level. But I'm enjoying it and getting the hang of it". When I put it to him that his sister Fran from Face Management had managed to pull in a big crowd, David agreed, "She's done a really good job. It's awesome."

Asked if he'll be back for another one, he said "no doubt, no doubt."

Results

1. David Millar Cofidis 13.05.795
2. Bradley Wiggins F D’Jeux
3. Chris Newton Corima RT
4. Rob Hayles Cofidis
5. Tom White VC Des Londres
6. Tom Smith CC Cardiff

Elite Pursuit Challenge

A real highlight of the evening was a Pursuit challenge ridden by six of the best pursuiters that we have ever had. With three heats over 2km and a 3km final for the two fastest qualifiers, it was all nicely packaged to provide entertainment without taxing the riders too much. First heat saw Rob Hayles holding off a very strong challenge from Bryan Steel, the man who beat him at the national championships.

In the second heat a very smooth looking Paul Manning held off an early burst from comeback man Malcolm Elliott, but Manning’s time was a fraction slower than Hayles. The third heat was a real thriller, with Chris Newton really laying down the gauntlet to world champion Bradley Wiggins. Newton was already 0.7 seconds up at three laps and was still o.6 up at one kilometre.

However, Wiggins came back very strongly and reeled in Newton in the last couple of laps to win by almost two seconds and record the fastest qualifying time. Newton was just slower than Hayles.

The Hayles and Wiggins final was another thriller with the lead changing hands on several occasions: Hayles was almost half a second up with a kilometre to ride; Wiggins then showed his class to put in a very quick final four laps turning round the deficit and finishing with an impressive two second win at the line.

Heat 1 (2km)
Rob Hayles 2m 17.213s beat Bryan Steel 2.18.149

Heat 2 (2km)
Paul Manning 2.17.737 beat Malcolm Elliott 2.20.034

Heat 3 (2km)
Bradley Wiggins 2.15.502 beat Chris Newton 2.17.411

Final (3km)
Bradley Wiggins 3.29.181 beat Rob Hayles 3.29.181

Devil take the Hindmost – Elite

The elite Devil also ended dramatically and a little chaotically. With early departures including Malcolm Elliott and Rob Hayles, it was amusing to watch the best riders in the country wrestling with an event they probably only ride once in a blue moon. Several of them looked unhappy to be pulled out, though it’s an event where it is sometimes impossible to judge from the saddle whether you made it to safety or not. This was very apparent as the field was reduced to just four riders, Bradley Wiggins, Chris Newton, James Notley and David Millar.

Millar, riding with the smoothness and perception of a track natural, kept well out of trouble, but Wiggins and Newton found themselves fighting to avoid elimination. On the line it was very close, but both riders seemed to think that Newton had survived.

Wiggins began to decelerate and prepare to pull off the track, whilst Newton wound himself up for a final push for victory. However, to the surprise of everyone, it was Newton who was called out of the race. Whether he chose too ignore the call or simply didn’t hear it, Newton launched a fine sprint which "won" him the race, ahead of Notley and Millar. Only when Notley saw his name up on the scoreboard was Newton’s elimination confirmed and a surprised winner was able to claim the winner’s flowers.

1. James Notley VC St Raphael 6.54.039
2. David Millar Cofidis
3. Bradley Wiggins F D’Jeux
4. Chris Newton Corima RT

15km Points Race – Elite

If Chris Newton was downhearted to have the Devil victory denied him, he didn’t show it in absolutely dominating the elite Points Race. Having been the 2002 World champion in this event and 4th this year at the Worlds, Newton has emerged as our best ever points race rider and he is head and shoulders above everyone else in this country in what is a tough discipline.

Newton’s natural speed and endurance, honed with the GB team, where he also contributes to the Team Pursuit, are allied to a devastating kick for the line which he seems able to repeat almost at will. It is this repeated ability to surge clear of the field which really defines his talent in this event and he used it to good effect in winning the first four of the six sprints.

He also took second in the remaining two, both won by a very fluent looking Bradley Wiggins, who finished a distant second. David Millar contributed fully to the race and again looked at ease on the boards, making a few digs at the front which shredded the field and illustrated how far he has come in the three short weeks he has been working with the GB team. Millar was interviewed in the Track centre during one lull in the action and admitted that the Olympics are looming large in his plans for 2004. One can only wonder if he will be lining up in the Pursuit as well as the Time Trial.

1. Chris Newton Corima RT 26 pts
2. Bradley Wiggins F D’Jeux 14 pts
3. Rob Hayles Cofidis 5 pts
4. David Millar Cofidis 4 pts
5. Bryan Steel Team Childwell 2 pts
6. Malcolm Elliott Pinarello RT 1 pt
7. Paul Manning VC St Raphael 0 pts

Time: 18.10.851

15km Scratch Race – Elite

The final event of the evening was a lightning fast 15km Scratch Race for the elite riders. With Millar opting to sit it out, no doubt exhausted by his first full-on track meeting, it was again a fired-up Chris Newton who made much of the running. James Notley continued his good run by taking the first prime at 5km, but when Newton took the second at 10km the writing seemed on the wall. Newton then made it into a significant break, which also included Bryan Steel, Gerraint Thomas and Matt Haynes.

This foursome eventually lapped the field and dragged with them a couple more riders, including Rob Hayles. With the rest of the field pulled off the track, it was down to this quintet to battle for the win. Haynes looked to be going especially well and as a sprinter of note, he looked like he might upsateg even Newton. However, two laps out, Haynes made a bad move after an effort on the front and found himself isolated a couple of lengths back from the others and simply didn’t have enough left to get back on. Newton then made his bid for the line, but ran out of gas and was passed by a charging Rob Hayles, who just held off Bryan Steel to take a very popular win. Thomas was third, whilst Haynes was fourth, no doubt ruing his mistake.

1. Rob Hayles Cofidis 18.28.231
2. Bryan Steel Team Chilwell
3. Gerraint Thomas Cardiff JIF
4. Matt Haynes City of Edinburgh
5. Chris Newton Corima RT
6. Ed Clancy Wheelspin Cycles