Fairwell Jens Fiedler
Nick Rosenthal reports for British Cycling. Photos by Larry Hickmott

Arriving an hour ahead of the event’s start time to find the car parks almost full is a good sign, and a reflection of the popularity of the Revolution track series. Many people had travelled some considerable distance to be at the event, and the bar and snack stands were doing good trade in the hour or so before racing started. The capacity crowd was kept entertained by the upbeat music, and enjoyed the opportunity to watch many of the world’s leading six-day riders warming up on the Manchester boards, along with some big beefy German sprinters (and of course, big beefy British sprinters!). And before we knew it seven o’clock had arrived, and the racing started.

Team Elimination (6 km)

This unusual event involves riders racing in teams of two, Madison style. Each lap, the last rider to cross the line is eliminated from the race – along with his team-mate! Think of it as a Madison Devil. This continues until there are only two teams left in the race, when they go head-to-head in a full-on charge for the finish line.

This was a top-grade field, with the likes of Matt Gilmore and Iljo Keisse from Belgium, our own Tony Gibb and Malcolm Elliott, former national Madison champions Russell and Dean Downing, Rob Hayles and Chris Newton, six-day men Switzerland’s Alex Aeschbach riding with Denmark’s Jimmi Madsen, German six-day pros Gerd Doerich and Andreas Beikirch, and the reigning world Madison champions Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli from Switzerland.

The experienced six-day men kept out of trouble as the less experienced teams were eliminated first. In the end, it came down to a head-on sprint between the Belgians and Hayles/Newton. Chris Newton gave it his all, but just gave fast man Matt Gilmore a perfect lead out to the line. So, first Gilmore/Keisse, second Chris Newton/Rob Hayles, third the Downing brothers. Gilmore has fourteen six-day wins under his belt, and is a former Madison world champion. As an aside, he was born in Belgium to an Australian father and a British mother, so we can almost claim his as one of ours!

1. Team 8
Matthew Gilmore, Iljo Keisse (Belgium)

2. Team 5
Rob Hayles, Chris Newton (Recycling RT)

3. Team 6
Dean Downing, Russell Downing (Recycling RT)

4. Team 2
Gerd Dorich, Andreas Beikirch (Germany)

5. Team 1
Bruno Risi, Franco Marvulli (Switzerland)

6. Team 7
Tony Gibb (DFL), Malcolm Elliott (Pinarello RT)

7. Team 14
Adam Blythe (Planet X / On One), Ben Swift (Kinesis UK)

8. Team 12
Tom Murray (Batley CC), Peter Williams (Kinesis UK)

9. Team 10
Ben Hallam (DFL), James Notley (Cyclestore UK)

10. Team 11
Martin Freeman (Wills Wheels), John Scripps (VC de Londres)

11. Team 13
Duncan Hewitt (GB Fire Services RT), Julian Mortel (Stockport Clarion)

12. Team 9
Matt Rowe (Wales), Andy Tennant (West Midlands Division)

10 km points race

With former world points champions Risi and Newton in the field, former world scratch champ Marvulli, and worlds points medallists Gilmore and Hayles, this 40-lap event had a top-flight field. With 30 laps to go, the opening sprint was won by Russell Downing from Belgian fast-man Iljo Keisse and Chris Newton, with Rob Hayles collecting the single point. The pace was high, so the chance of anyone getting a lap was very slim. With only one month to the world championships, many of the top track guys are in peak form – and it showed. The second sprint was so fast that it split the field apart, led by sprint winner Tony Gibb, who won ahead of Russell Downing and Iljo Keisse, with Dean Downing gaining the single point. A few of the “mere mortal” home riders were finding the pace hard going by now, and peeling out.

Big Rob Hayles got on the front at this stage and showed us all what “fast” really means, tearing the field apart heading into the third sprint. Even bigger Swiss rider Franco Marvulli unleashed his stunningly quick sprint to win this one from Russell Downing and Iljo Keisse. Matt Gilmore immediately attacked with Bruno Risi to try for a lap gain, both riders with an extremely quick turn of speed, well able to gain a lap together.

Amazingly, Bruno Risi crashed suddenly behind Gilmore, his bike just seemingly sliding from under him. Risi is a superb bike handler, so this is a bit of a mystery (Bruno afterwards said even he didn't know why the bike went from under him...).

Out front, Gilmore decided not to persist and rejoined the bunch. Tony Gibb won the final sprint ahead of young Belgian Iljo Keisse. A quick tot-up of the points showed that Russell Downing had won the points race by one point from Tony Gibb and Iljo Keisse in joint second place.

1. Russell Downing Recycling RT 11 11:22.054
2. Tony Gibb DFL 10
3. Iljo Keisse Belgium 10
4. Franco Marvulli Switzerland 5
5. Ben Swift Kinesis UK 3
6. Chris Newton Recycling RT 2
7. Alexander Aeschbach Switzerland 1
8. Malcolm Elliott Pinarello RT 0
9. Ben Hallam DFL 0

Madison 1 km time trial

This event has become a firm favourite with the Manchester crowd at Revolution track meetings. The pair of riders launch warm up one behind the other, before slinging the back one of the duo off for the first couple of fast laps, before another Madison handsling changes the workload back to his team mate, who has been resting and circling the track slowly. A good Madison change is crucial to success in this event. Mark Cavendish and Ed Clancy posted a record time of 57.457 seconds for the four laps at the last Revolution meeting.

Russell and Dean Downing started the race, setting a marker for other teams to aim at. Then Adam Blythe and Ben Swift, two of our up-and-coming young riders, came very close to matching the time set by the more experienced Downing brothers. Experienced six-day men Alex Aeschbach and Jimmi Madsen, both used to riding this event on the six-day circuit, gave a demonstration of skill and experience, although they failed to match the times of the two previous pairs. Rob Hayles then led team mate Chris Newton, Hayles again being familiar with the event from his six-day experience. Newton set off at a cracking pace, before chucking Hayles in hard to go on for a new fastest time of 59.397.

The Belgian pairing of Matthew Gilmore and Iljo Keisse combines two riders with a very quick sprint. In theory, they should be capable of great things in a flying 1 km Madison event. Gilmore went first, hunched cat-like over his bike, marginally up on the time as he threw the younger Keisse in to the race. With 59.694, they slot into second place at the moment, behind Newton and Hayles. Gerd Doerich is the most experienced rider on the six-day circuit at the moment, and a highly skilled trackie. Riding with Andreas Beikirch, the two won the Stuttgart Six-Days last year. The German duo were quick, with a lovely polished Madison change, but they did not trouble the top of the leader board in this event.

And finally, Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli. The big lanky Marvulli led off, setting the fastest time so far in his first lap. Throwing Risi in with a superb change, Risi went into what I call the “low bellied cat slink”, a deceptively fast style that powered them to victory in 58.057 seconds. And that, boys and girls, was AFTER Risi had crashed earlier in the evening! It was a pleasure to see such class on the Manchester boards -–but also to see how close our own riders are these days, how the gap has narrowed over the last years.

1. Bruno Risi/Franco Marvulli (Swiss) 58.057
2. Rob Hayles/Chris Newton (Recycling RT) 59.397
3. Matthew Gilmore/Iljo Keisse (Belgium) 59.694
4. Adam Blythe (Planet X/Ben Swift (Kinesis UK) 1:00.511
5. Russell/Dean Downing (Recycling RT) 1:01.138
6. Gerd Dorich/Andreas Beikirch (Germany) 1:01.647
7. Alexander Aeschbach (Swiss)/Jimmi Madsen (Denmark) 1:02.376

The Revolution Madison – 20 km

An 80-lap Madison featuring most of the top six-day stars – in Manchester. What a superb way to close off the second series of Revolution track meetings!

The riders race in teams of two, one in the race and one resting, and change by using a handsling. Skill and experience count for a lot in this form of racing. Oh, and there are sprints for points every ten laps for good measure, and the juicy carrot of lap gains being more important than points. So a team with no points can win the race if they gain a lap. Of course, the other teams with points will probably work hard together to stop that happening.

The race got off to a gentle start as the rider settled in to a rhythm. At 70 laps to go, Franco Marvulli sneaked over the line first to pick up the points. Ben Hallam and James Notley had a little try for an attack, but at the 60 to go sprint everyone was still together, with Gilmore/Keisse taking points from reigning world Madison champions Risi/Marvulli. Next to go for a long one was Tony Gibb, quickly a quarter lap up on the field. But nobody was willing to let him go, and three teams quickly chased him down as the whole field stretched out.

Fifty laps to go, and the sprint went to the Downing brothers ahead of Gilmore/Keisse and Doerich/Beikirch, the experienced six-day prose showing consistently in this event.

Then, a masterclass: Bruno Risi came from nowhere with 45 laps to go, opening big gaps on the field. Only Hayles/Newton and the Downings were able to respond, the three teams soon meeting up and working together. They were soon half a lap up on the field, passing lapped back-markers. Meantime, Matt Gilmore and Iljo Keisse made their own response, easily and smoothly bridging the half lap gap. We now had four teams in the lead, and a totally fragmented field left grovelling behind them.

Risi/Marvulli were leading the race from Gilmore/Keisse by this stage, with 35 laps left. And with 34 laps left to go, the four top teams gained the lap by joining the back of what was left of the main field.

Leaders: Risi/Marvulli, Gilmore/Keisse, Downing/Downing, Hayles/Newton. Everyone else was one lap down.

Then – disaster for one of the Downing brothers, who stripped a sprocket just as the next sprint started to unfold. Aeschbach/Madsen also had a “touching wood" incident at this time, possibly linked to the Downing sprocket strip (Alexander confirmed this later, Larry).

With 25 laps to go, Risi/Marvulli led from Gilmore/Keisse by just three points, with only the Downings and Hayles/Newton still on the same lap. Effectively, four teams left in the race. 20 to go, and Matt Gilmore showed some of his old zip to pinch the points on the line ahead of Aeschbach/Madsen and Risi/Marvulli. With 16 points each, the Swiss and the Belgian pairs were now joint race leaders. Newton and Hayles picked up the main points with ten laps to go, moving them up above the Downings in the race ranking.

With five to go, the top Euro-chaps had the race fully in control. Keisse led it out from Risi, with Marvulli and Gilmore being slung in hard with one to go and going head to head. On the line, big lanky Franco Marvulli piped Gilmore by a tyre’s width to win the race. So, world champions Bruno Risi and Franco Marvulli won the race at 33 mph ahead of Matt Gilmore/ Iljo Keisse, with Rob Hayles and Chris Newton in third place. What a superb night’s racing to close off the ultra-successful Revolution track series. Roll on October 22nd, and the next Revolution track meeting!

1. Bruno Risi/Franco Marvulli 23
2. Matthew Gilmore/Iljo Keisse 19
3. Rob Hayles/Chris Newton 13
4. Russell Downing/Dean Downing 12

At 1 lap
5. Gerd Dorich/Andreas Beikirch 7
6. Adam Blythe/Ben Swift 3
7. Alexander Aeschbach/Jimmi Madsen 3
8. Tony Gibb/Malcolm Elliott 2

At 2 laps
9. Ben Hallam/James Notley 4
10. Tom Murray/Peter Williams 3

At 3 laps
11. Matt Rowe/Andy Tennant
12. Duncan Hewitt/Julian Mortel

At 4 laps
13. Martin Freeman/John Scripps

1 km record attempt – Victoria Pendleton

From a very large, beefy German male sprinter, we moved over to Britain’s leading female sprinter. Victoria Pendleton made an attack on the British women’s 1 km track record, currently held by Sally Boyden in a time of 1.14.18 (set in 1995).

Victoria Pendleton looking ever so controlled as she completes the 500 metres in just over 35 seconds and going on to beat the record for the Kilometre.

The women usually race over 500m in competition, so it is slightly unusual to race over the four-lap distance. Pendleton already holds the British record for both the 200m and 50m distances, of course.

Pendleton got off to a technically perfect start as the crowd got solidly and vocally behind her. She rode evenly and consistently to cross the line in a new record time of 1:10.854, taking three and a half seconds off the previous record to a standing ovation from the capacity crowd.

NEW BRITISH RECORD
Victoria Pendleton WCPP 1:10.854 31.570 mph/50.808 km/h