A packed Revolution 35, held at the National Cycling Centre, certainly reinforced that 2012 is going to be a huge year for cycling; fans were out in their thousands supporting their favourite Revolution riders.
It’s also going to be a good year for new Team Sky recruit, Luke Rowe. He raced for the first time in his new Team Sky colours here, and started with an emphatic victory in the Scratch Race. As a former national Madison champion, Rowe is prolific not only on the track, but has a bright future on the road ahead of him.
“It’s a great honour, as soon as I pull the Team Sky jersey on today there’s a massive smile on my face,†said Rowe. “It’s always a great vibe here, it’s always a great night out so I’m really happy to be back at Revolution.â€
He continued: “Last time I rode the track was at the Revolution, 2012 is going to be a hard year on the road. There’ll be a lot of grafting, a lot of working for my teammates; I’ve just got to get myself out there.â€
Rowe continued his run of track form in the Australian Pursuit; a thrilling race for spectators as twelve equally positioned riders play the ultimate game of cat and mouse. Rowe went from the gun and fought off a late challenge by Chris Opie to prove himself in this true test of stamina.
This Revolution featured some strong continental talent, some being brand new to the Revolution track racing experience. Chris Grasmann helped his team Maxgear Racing to victory in the Team Elimination race; he was joined by promising young elites Adam Yates and Harry Tanfield.
In the 1km Madison Time Trial, a popular Revolution event, CHEP UK’s partnership of Jonathan Dibben and Morgan Kniesky beat Sky duo of Luke Rowe and Andreas Muller in an impressive 58.422.
In the Elite Points race, the money was on Luke Rowe but after an early breakaway was pulled back, Jon Mould’s early points and consistent performance meant he edged out Rowe for the win. The two battled it out at the front of the race towards the end, but Mould’s 25 points was enough over Rowe’s 20 points.
Revolution 35 featured tandem racing for the first time and was popular with the large crowds. Two British and two Dutch teams battled across an omnium format including a 200m TT, Match Sprinting and the Revolution finale, a tandem Kilo.
Craig MacLean and Anthony Kappes racked up the points to win the omnium overall. But the duo of Barney Storey and Neil Fachie enjoyed the raucous applause in the last event, the Kilo, where they beat the Dutch duo of Bos and Bonnhof in 33.328.
In the DHL Future Stars, Emily Kay and Jake Ragan both kept their impressive leads with consistent performances on the night. It would be very difficult to edge out both of these in-form riders at the last Revolution event.
Maxgear Racing displaced Team UK Youth at the top of the standings on the night. They lead the Revolution Championship with 501 points, ahead of Team UK Youth’s 494.
Those who missed Revolution 35 will be able to watch the hour-long highlights package, shown on Monday 9th January 2012 on ITV4 at 7pm.
The next Revolution will feature Olympic hero Sir Chris Hoy on 28th January 2012, limited tickets are still available at www.cyclingrevolution.com.
