Olympic silver medallist Franco Marvulli led his three-man team to victory in the Madison at Revolution 30 in Manchester on Saturday.
The Swiss six day rider teamed up with Andy Fenn and Jon Mould to guide his Le Col squad to maximum points after 80 frantic laps.
Maxgear trio Adam Yates, Simon Yates and Leif Lampater looked to have done enough but Marvulli stole the show on the final sprint.
“That was crazy fast,” said Dean Downing, riding for Rapha Condor Sharp, after the event.
Christian Grassman launched what looked to be a winning attack in a relentless 24-lap Devil Scratch Race before the group reeled the Rapha Condor Sharp rider in and Ben Swift sprinted to victory for Team Sky.
New Sky signing Alex Dowsett paired up with world champion Alex Rasmussen to produce a formidable 1km Madison team, under the CHEP Championship squad.
Combined, the duo clocked 58.515 seconds – but that wasn’t enough to beat Andy Fenn and Revolution favourite Marvulli, who romped home in 58.336.
Matt Rotherham took the inaugural Future Stars Sprint, while Sam Lowe, Matt Rotherham, Emily Kay and Jess Crampton also impressed across the young riders’ series.
In the 15km points race, early moves from the continental riders Sebastian Donadio and Marvulli signalled intent. The Team Sky leadout train enabled Swift to accumulate 10 points throughout the sprints, even when his team mate Kennaugh retired.
Donadio needed to keep a grip on the race and fought hard and managed to edge over Swift in the penultimate sprint to take the win.
The crowd were also treated to a bizarre rendition of Robbie Williams’ ‘Angels’ by six day rider Donadio. Saturday night may be X Factor night, but in the National Cycling Centre, there was Argentina’s equivalent. He entertained the crowd with his singing, and even brought his own keyboard along.
Maxgear now lead the 2010/11 series standings on 18 points, ahead of Team Sky (16) and Motorpoint-Marshalls Pasta (14).
Revolution returns on the December 11, tickets are available now through www.cyclingrevolution.com
