Revolution Round 1 – London – Race Report & Gallery

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Revolution UK Championship 2017-2018 – Round 1 | 25 Nov – London – Revolution 63

The Revolution Series returned for it’s 15^th season with a three round series starting at the Lee Valley Velodrome in London before heading across the border to the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow and finishing finally at the Home of Cycling in Manchester at the HSBC British Cycling National Cycling Centre.

A star studded first round saw the likes of Ben Swift (UAE) and Dani Rowe (WM3) return to the track whilst Revolution favourites Christian Grassmann (Maloja Pushbikers) and former road champion Amalie Dideriksen (Boels Dolmans) continued their Winter Programme before starting all again in the New Year.

Back on the track for the first time in a couple of years another world champion Lizzie Deignan (Boels Dolmans) whilst Aussie duo Cameron Meyer and Miles Scotston continue their good form after a good season of 6Day events in Europe.

There were plenty of home grown trackies back for more revolutions on the boards at Lee Valley and Olympic Champion Katie Archibald (Team WNT) and Ed Clancy MBE (JTL Condor) were back to show their craft over a 2 session event beginning a one o’clock in the afternoon before concluding to a packed audience in the evening.

A strong performance by former Future Star Ellie Russell (NCC Group-Kuota – Torelli) in the Elimination Race in her first Elite season showed promise as she continues her cycling career finishing 2^nd ahead of Rachel Barbieri (Team Rowe & King) and Elinor Barker (Matrix Fitness).

Another former Future Star was Anna Docherty, she spent the last 3 seasons in the Future Star Championship, this year progressing into the Elite Racing this season for Team Jadan – Weldtite p/b Vive le Velo. Not wanting to contest a bunch sprint Docherty set off in the final half-dozen laps of the Scratch Race as the rest of the riders watched each other and gained a half lap. But it wasn’t to be on this occasion getting swallowed up with a lap remaining.

The Revolution Madison Time Trial is a target for many an Elite rider and the Women had their chance to set the quickest time in London. Archibald and team mate Hayley Jones were the quickest with a 1.01.30 a second ahead of their nearest rivals Team Pedalsure.

It was return of the dynamic duo Clancy and (Jon) Mould to set the quickest time for JLT Condor in the Elite Madison Time Trial. No one was able to match their dominating performance of recent years setting a 54.710 ahead of 100%ME at 55.824.

Making their debut on the Revolution Stage, Cycle Team OnForm, NCC Group-Kuota-Torelli and Storey Racing were testing their legs on the track after a successful domestic season on the road. Joining them too were Boompods EDCO Continental Velo8 and Inspired to bring a total of twelve Women’s Teams mirroring the growth of Women’s Elite Cycle Racing on the road in 2017.

Consistency proved the winning formula in the Elite events with Inspired’s Ethan Hayter winning the Elimination Scratch Race and team mate Fred Wright scoring high too, leaving last years winners JLT Condor 5 points behind after round 1.

Ella Barnwell & James Codd have set their stalls out in the Future Star Championships going into round 2 in Glasgow next weekend where the racing resumes before a break for Christmas. Once the New Year is out of the way the final comes quickly on January 6^th in Manchester.