Where it all began

To understand Revolution’s importance, you need to go back to the start, when Fran Millar, sister of David, paired up with James Pope to form Face Partnership, the company also behind the London Nocturne, and launch the series.

• WorldTour teams at Revolution

• Cannondale-Drapac
• Lampre-Merida
• LottoNL-Jumbo
• Orica-BikeExchange
• Team Giant-Alpecin
• Team Sky
• Trek-Segafredo

It was nearly 13 years to the day when Revolution began, on November 29 2003, with more than 3,000 spectators packing into the Manchester Velodrome for the first instalment of an event which has grown and grown since.

David Millar, then world time trial champion, and world individual pursuit champion Bradley Wiggins were among the ‘Best of British’ stars to claim victories on the first night, dazzling the crowds in their rainbow skinsuits.

And, capturing the talent-nurturing spirit of the series from the off, ‘Future Stars’ to race on the day included the now double Olympic gold medallist Steven Burke, six-time Olympic gold medallist Jason Kenny (who won the 10km scratch race), and current Team Sky duo Ian Stannard and Ben Swift.

“You have the World Cups, the worlds and the Olympics but it’s not entertaining – it’s all focussed on the Olympics, and qualification or selection.

“This has been the best attempt by far at promoting track cycling as entertainment in the same way professional road racing is seen in that way.

“It’s done a lot for the riders, and hopefully the spectators have enjoyed it as well.”

• Revolution Champions League: round one – top four

• 1) JLT-Condor
  (Ed Clancy/Jon Mould) – 199 points
• 2) Team PedalSure
  (Iljo Keisse/Andy Tennant) – 172
• 3) Maloja Pushbikers
  (Nick Stopler/Max Beyer) – 127
• 4) Team Sky
  (Peter Kennaugh/Elia Vivani) – 98

Clancy’s first Revolution victory came in the madison kilo, alongside Tom White, in the first round of the second series, before he paired up with his British Cycling Academy team-mate Mark Cavendish to win the same event in rounds two and three.

Clancy went on to set a record in the discipline with the Manxman in 2005, and in 2014 paired up with Ollie Wood to claim the record again. Victories in between have been plentiful, though it’s his earliest successes that Clancy is most proud of.

“Thinking right back, the first time me and Cav won the madison kilo stands out – before that we were just getting our heads kicked in,” Clancy admits. “We were doing pursuit training that winter, and to win the madison kilo was quite a big thing.

Pathway to success

Clancy has been one of Revolution’s most successful riders, but the Revolution Hall of Fame, which lists the former champions of the Future Stars competition, is also a veritable who’s who of British cycling. Burke, Kennaugh and new Team Sky recruit Owain Doull have all gone on to win Olympic gold medals on the boards, while Dan McLay, who shone on his Tour de France debut this summer, and Simon Yates, a stage winner and sixth overall in this year’s Vuelta a Espana, have made their name on the road.

Meanwhile, Emily Kay, a three-time back-to-back winner of the Girls Future Stars title, between 2009 and 2012, is now knocking on the door for Tokyo 2020 having claimed two UCI Track World Cup golds in Glasgow earlier in November.

At last weekend’s Revolution, Kay joined Olympic champion Elinor Barker – one of five Rio 2016 champions in Manchester, alongside Clancy, Doull, Dame Sarah Storey and Italy’s Viviani – to ride for Matrix Fitness.

And the 21-year-old admits it was the experience gained at Revolution as a young rider which helped to propel her to the upper echelons of the British Cycling Academy.

• Elite Women’s Championship (after four rounds)

• 1) Podium Ambition – 424 points
• 2) Voxwomen – 368
• 3) Great Britain – 346

“It gives you a window to elite racing,” she explains. “You get to race through the winter, and you can watch and learn from the elite riders.

“There’s also a clear progression through to elite racing. When I was a young athlete I was getting the opportunity to race against Laura Trott and Marianne Vos, for example.

“There aren’t many other countries who can give an opportunity like this, and the opportunity to race against such experienced riders.”

Alongside competitive racing, Kay also believes regularly riding in front of a crowd paid dividends when she raced in front of the fervent Glasgow supporters at the World Cup.

“Revolution was a massive learning curve for me as a youngster, and when I stepped up I was used to it and I knew how to deal with it,” she adds.

“To be able to learn to perform in front of a crowd, and to embrace it, is something you don’t get very often in sport.

“The crowd [in Glasgow] were phenomenal. It can be both good and bad – it can create pressure, so you have to learn how to embrace it.”

And Kay’s verdict is backed by Dame Sarah Storey, whose Podium Ambition team continue to lead the overall standings ahead of the final round in London.

Britain’s most successful female Paralympian returned to action at the Manchester round – her first time back racing on the boards post-Rio – and the 39-year-old is full of praise for organisers Face Partnership.

“Revolution and the Face Partnership – with the London Nocturne as well – are doing an incredible job,” she says.

“It takes a huge number of different people to make it change, and the Revolution has the Elite Women’s Championship now, which is a big step forward.

“It’s a really good event, and I’m glad I’ve found an opportunity to race in it, especially in the new format.”

Champions

Peter Kennaugh is a rider who has enjoyed success at Revolution as both a former winner of the Future Stars competition and now, riding for Team Sky, a full-fledged star.

The Manxman’s palmares includes two Olympic gold medals on the track, two national champions’ jerseys on the road, a stage win at the Criterium du Dauphine, victory at this season’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race and, later in the year, the red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana.

But, despite all that success, the 27-year-old still has fond memories of coming to Revolution first as a fan, and then as a rider.

“I’ll always remember the first Revolution,” he recalls. “I wasn’t racing myself, I came to watch it with my Mum and Dad, and was just in awe of everyone.

“I then came and raced the Future Stars and I was there with guys who I’d been watching on TV and reading about in magazines.

“I was getting changed in the changing rooms once when [Gilberto] Simoni walked in. I’d usually be watching him going over the Dolomites at the Giro d’Italia – that was always surreal.”

Now Kennaugh is riding at Revolution for Team Sky in the Champions League and the new format is a hit in his eyes, not least because of the level of support now provided by WorldTour teams.

“So far I’ve really liked it. In the last couple of years, I’ve come in off my winter break and there’s usually only two or three road riders, racing against a load of track riders who are flying – it makes for hard work.

“It’s been refreshing to have the road guys here. And obviously it’s nice to come here with the team support too.

“In the past, I’ve been on my own, not rode the track bike for a year and I’m rooting around all the Velodrome storerooms to try and find it.

“I haven’t had a new track bike in eight years, and then all of a sudden the team sign up to Revolution and I’ve got two new track bikes.”

International attraction

Revolution’s prestige is evident from the star riders it has always attracted, and not just British riders but international stars, too. Alongside homegrown talent like Kennaugh are riders like Viviani, who beat Mark Cavendish to omnium gold at the Rio Olympics, and the man who partnered the Italian to third place at this year’s Ghent Six Day, Iljo Keisse.

Belgium’s Six Day superstar is a Revolution regular and has been involved in the series for more than a decade – estimating his own appearances in the event at between 20 and 25. His first victory came alongside fellow Six Day rider Matthew Gilmore in the second series, while his latest success has been with Britain’s Andy Tennant on Team PedalSure.

“It’s always been good,” the Belgian reflects. “Normally it’s a very good atmosphere and a very high level of racing – I think you can compare the races more or less with the World Cups.

“Though there are a lot of Great British riders, their level is very, very high. I always like to come for the atmosphere, but also because it’s good, competitive racing.”

Vive la Revolution?

So what next for Revolution and track cycling in Britain? A popular fixture on the calendar, for fans and riders alike, and with a track record of producing future British stars, Revolution is certainly an vital part of the cycling landscape.

Low ticket sales for the Friday evening session suggest the schedule needs tweaking, but the Revolution Champions League got the seal of approval from the likes of Clancy, Kennaugh and Keisse in the paddock.

It’s early days but a sell-out Saturday evening at the home of British Cycling in Manchester points to a bright future. Vive la Revolution, indeed.