Going into the evening it was the Rob Hayles’ Forza team who led the overall competition having performed well across the first evenings racing back in November. Before the nights racing began Rob was in bullish mood when asked how Team Forza would be approaching the nights racing. 

“We’re gonna go on the attack again. It’s the best form of defence I think. But it’s going to be a different race tonight, there’s a lot of other guys here that weren’t here last time round and we’ll just have to wait and see but we’ve just got to try and get up there in as many races as we can”

Hot on the heels of Team Forza were the Slicks, led by Craig Maclean. Craig bagged a number of victories across the first Revolution underlining his teams sprint credentials, this time around his team would be boosted by the addition of Bradley Wiggins, a change that was immediately felt as Wiggins coasted to victory in the first bunch race of the night to set the early pace and draw first blood for the Slicks. Dean Downing of the Flyers summed up the feelings of the rest of the bunch about having Bradley back:

“He’s got the class to just turn it on whenever he wants and he proved that in that last race. Brad split the bunch in half and he showed just how good he is really.”

The new team based scoring system, introduced this year, has really captured the imagination of the fans as they start to pick the team that they will back for the rest of the winter. But in characteristic fashion the Revolution also sprung a few surprises with one of the big stories of the night being the debut of former skier Alain Baxter who hopes to ride for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games next year. Riding in the qualifying round of the 200m sprint, Baxter set a time of 11.6 seconds, a little off the mark on the night, but good enough to suggest that he might have what it takes to make the transition into his new sporting role. 

Speaking about taking his first steps in an unfamiliar arena, Alain said:
“Well for me as you know it’s the first time in competition with a real crowd and a proper set up but I’m only doing the flying 200 but as long as I can get a time posted and see where I’m standing against these guys, is all I need to know really”

As the cohesion develops within the newly formed teams at the Revolution it was noticeable this month how much interaction there was between the youngsters and the more established members of the team with Ed Clancy, Andy Tennant and others often seen deep in conversation with their young proteges. Ed described responsibility that goes with his seniority here at the Revolution:

“I’m the team captain here so I’m trying to put on my sensible hat, just trying to pass on little bits of advice and just trying to get the girls to chill out and relax a bit because they seem quite nervous before their races. I’m just making sure they enjoy it trying to fill my captains role.

As the evening wound to a close the crowd had noticeably warmed to the new format with sections of the crowd shouting the names of the teams they’d chosen to back for the night. James Pope of Face Partnership declared himself pleased with the way that the event has again grown and developed this winter. 

“We knew that if the Revolution was to continue to grow and develop we needed to make some changes this winter, so in a lot of ways it’s been like starting again for us. Last month the crowd took a little time to get their heads around the idea of the teams, but this time around everyone has been much more vocal and we’re really pleased with the way things are going. By the time this season finishes in February we’ll have worked through any teething problems and be ready for a much bigger, even better revolution in 2010”

Meanwhile back in the stands the crowd seemed pleased with their evenings racing, rewarded for venturing out into a miserable Manchester night with some thrilling racing. A truly thrilling Keirin brought the whole stadium to their feet as Craig Maclean snatched victory whilst in the sprint it was Ross Edgar who upset the seeding from the qualifying round to beat Matt Crampton. There was rarely a quiet moment in the Velodrome from start to finish as the crowd responded time and again to the efforts of the riders out on the track

As the Revolution series goes into the Christmas break it’s the Slicks who lead in the overall standings, buoyed by another strong performance from stalwart Craig Maclean and the fresh legs of Bradley Wiggins. Join us again on 16th January for the next installment in the series to see if the Slicks can press home their advantage. 

Results

Provisional League Table:

1 Slicks 18

2 Forza 17

3 Dynamos 13

4 Pacers 11

5 Vitesse 10

6 Rollers 9

7 Tempo 8

8 Flyers 4