Adam Tranter // Fusion-Media.co.uk reports: In a cold November weekend that
brought rain, snow and for many, severe weather warnings, there was nothing
but a warm atmosphere inside the Manchester Velodrome for Revolution 18.

There’s always something special about the November Revolutions, and
the 2007 edition certainly did not disappoint. Revolution 18 saw a whole host
of Six-Day riders and world-class sprinters from France, Germany and our very
own Great Britain Performance Plan. With no less than eight World Champions
present across the line up, it was no surprise to see the capacity crowd.

With such an assortment of different talents from various disciplines, there
was something for everyone. Household names like Bradley Wiggins kept the endurance
fans entertained, Great Britain’s up and coming junior sprinters were
also a crowd pleaser. The Future Stars races saw some great aggressive riding,
giving the spectators and even some of the professionals names to watch out
for.

The night got underway with the Elite Men’s 5km Motor Paced Scratch.
With all the riders focusing on each other, there was certainly no room for
error. It was Swiss Franco Marvulli who made the right move and took victory
over 100% ME pair Ben Swift and Johnny Bellis.

The 100% ME team were very active throughout the Elite 10km Scratch Race, Wiggins
looked an obvious favourite but lost out in the sprint against promising espoir,
Ben Swift. Wiggins certainly won the award for most outrageous bike, sporting
an all-white Dolan track machine with World Championship and Union Jack decals.
Something I suspect even Tim Westwood would have been proud of.

The Elite 20km Points Race saw a clash of tactical geniuses, all attempting
to get an edge over their opponents. An early breakaway saw Alex Dowsett taking
the first sprint. Chris Newton took the initiative and stormed off along with
David O’Loughlin and Toni Tauler to gain a lap. This set the tone for
the rest of the race with the three riders in hot pursuit of overall victory.
It was Chris Newton who managed to gain the edge with the Recyling.co.uk rider
taking the win ahead of Tauler and O’Loughlin.

It was then time for some sprint action with the first event of the Women’s
Sprint Team Omnium, the 200m TT. World Champion Kristina Vogel took victory
for Germany with an impressive 11.885. The Omnium continued throughout the night
with impressive performances from GB riders, doing enough to claim overall victory.

The Revolution Sprint featured many young riders who really showed where the
future of the sport is. Charlie Conord beat Pete Mitchell from the Olympic Development
Plan. The Team Sprint saw Great Britain lose out on both occasions, with Germany
taking a win over the ODP and France leading the Great Britain team.

One of the events I thought really highlighted the unique spin that Revolution
has put on track racing was the 3km Pursuit Challenge. It allowed the British
Cycling Academy team of Andy Tennant, Johnny Bellis and Peter Kennaugh to take
on the Spanish riders, Tony Tauler, Sergi Escobar and Miquel Alzamura. The Academy
team contained two World Champions and one European Champion, the team impressively
put over 8 seconds into the Spanish team recording a respectable 3.19.175.

As we reach the half-way point in the Revolution series, things are starting
to hot up and it looks like we are set for an excellent Revolution 19 in December.

Next event
Tickets for the next Revolution on January 12th are on sale at www.cyclingrevolution.com
or by calling 0845 686 0105 or 0161 223 2244 and tickets will be on sale on
the door.