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.
 
The Boy’s Future Stars kicked off with series leader, Dan McLay taking victory in the exciting Devil Takes the Hindmost with Chris Whorral in second. It was then Whorral’s turn for the limelight as his well timed attack gave him a deserved win in the 1 Mile Dash, a race popular with riders with a ‘punchy’ style. Determined to make up the points for an overall lead, Manx man Whorral added another first to his collection in the 5K Scratch Race. McLay maintained his composure and ensured he was up there to look after his overall lead. DHL’s Sprint School initiative started to make an impact, with riders like John Cooper making their Revolution debuts.
 
Ella Hopkins punched the air as she crossed the line first ahead of South West Region team mate, Dani King in the DHL Future Stars Girls 1 Mile Dash. Attacking riding was plentiful in the Girls 5k Scratch Race, a mix up between the riders and officials saw Harriet Owens launch off and celebrate her win, a lap early. Alex Greenfield stayed near the front and fought off challenges from riders such as Hannah Rich and Corrine Hall. At the end of the night, Corrine Hall went into Revolution 19 with a 3-point lead over Hannah Manley in the overall standings.
 
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.