Revolution #13 (Manchester)
14-Oct-2006

Report & Images: Phil Ingham & Larry Hickmott

It was a welcome return for that harbinger of winter, the Revolution Series, back for its fourth season and featuring a cracking line up of sprint and endurance stars. There was a visibly full-house, pumping music and that now familiar winter social buzz of riders, friends, families and fans all gathered together for an evening of chatting, eating, drinking and spectating. And the riders didn't disappoint as they treated us to some spectacular racing......something like this!

10km Elite Points Race

This race began with a polite wait for Andrea Tafi, who mis-timed his race-start and found himself half a lap down - Rob Hayles carefully held up the field until the Italian had made contact. However, he and the other Road stars were soon sidelined by the scorching pace of this short Points Race.

Meanwhile, at the head of the race, an early break by Alex Dowsett earned him the first sprint. Chris Newton's speed pulled Steven Burke clear as they claimed the top two places in the second sprint. Peter Kennaugh then shot out of the front of the field to try to take a lap, before Rob Hayles activated the field to chase and Chris Newton delivered the killer blow, bringing the young rider back and then surging through to clinch a second successive 5 points and gain a stranglehold on the race.

With the field back together, it was always going to be hard to deny Newton and with a handy lead-out from Ross Sander the former World Champion duly claimed the final sprint as well and with it the race by a country mile - 15 points to runner-up Steven Burke's 6 points, with Alex Dowsett third with 5 points. It's good to see this exciting rider in such good form going into the winter Track season.

1. Newton 15
2. Burke 6
3. Dowsett 5
4. Lloyd 3
5. Elliott 3

Elite Devil-Scratch

It was a tough start for the Road legends: Ballerini, Tafi and Sorensen were the first three riders to be eliminated as the Devil warmed the endurance riders up. Indeed the legends were completely stripped out by the time the Scratch Race section began. Tony Gibb was looking very strong as he led the pack for three laps as the race reached a blistering climax, with virtually the whole field of 12 riders bunched across the track straining for the line, with Ross Sander emerging as the winner from a charging Rob Hayles and Chris Newton, with last winter's Future Stars hero Peter Kennaugh just failing to get round them, having logically chosen Rob Hayles' wheel as the one to follow.

1. Ross Sander,
2. Rob Hayles
3. Chris Newton
4. Peter Kennaugh

1km Madison TT

First pair Gibb and Taylor set a high standard right from the start with a sub 60 second lap. However Blythe and Burke shattered that with an amazing 57.734s ride, timing their change perfectly and riding with total commitment. Even the in-form Hayles and Newton combination couldn't knock the youngsters off the top and Blythe and Burke took the win.

1. Steven Burke & Adam Blythe 57.734
2. Rob Hayles & Chris Newton 58.157
3. Peter Kennaugh & Jonathan Bellis 59.510
4. Tony Gibb & James Taylor 59.513
5. Ross Sander & Silvio Martinello 1.04.701

Elite 15km Scratch Race

The final outing for the elite endurance riders was the 15km Scratch Race. After some early skirmishes had come to naught, Chris Newton made a couple of determined efforts to get clear, showing his good form in the process. However, he and Rob Hayles, who also made a committed attempt to gain a lap, were eventually brought back.

A similar attempt by Ross Sander also looked doomed as he stalled some two-thirds of a lap clear. However, in an odd move, Peter Kennaugh dropped back from the main field and helped Sander to bridge that last third of a lap. Sander needed no second invitation and duly took that all-important lap. As Hugh Porter said at the time, "it's a strange old race, this, isn't it?" Several riders made desultory efforts to gain a lap, but Sander had the race in the bag and so it was left to the final sprint to sort out the minor placings, with Adam Blythe putting in a very quick surge to claim second from Mark McNally.

1 Ross Sander
2 Adam Blythe
3 Mark McNally


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