A spectacular evening session saw the culmination of the first-ever Revolution Champions League as JLT Condor won the men’s competition and Podium Ambition won the women’s competition after a tough two-days of racing at the LeeValley velodrome in London.
The duo of Ed Clancy and Jon Mould were impressive throughout at the earlier two rounds at Glasgow and Manchester and thoroughly deserved the overall victory in the end. But it was a close run thing as Andy Tennant and Iljo Kiesse (Pedalsure) were close behind in second and then Marcel Kalz and Christian Grasmann (Maloja Pushbikers) completed the podium in third.
It was also the culmination of the women’s Omnium event which started in the Saturday afternoon session; Simona Frapporti (CasteBrando.it) and Neah Evans (Podium Ambition) won the first two events. But Evans completed her Omnium victory after some superb riding in the point race which secured her victory in the new format Omnium event.
Evans showed her class yet again to take victory in the flying lap
The women’s flying lap kicked off the final session of the Revolution series as the women did battle against the clock in the 200m flying lap. It was Evans who was quickest with a time of 14.935, ahead of Elinor Barker’s (Matrix Fitness) time of 15.150, and 16-year-old Barbadian sensation Amber Joseph’s (Voxwomen) time of 15.237.
For Evans it was a continuation of her superb form throughout the two days, in the Saturday afternoon session she took victory in elimination scratch race and she continued her rich vein of form by comfortably winning the flying lap to cement Podium Ambition’s place at the top of the leaderboard.
Clancy and Mould turn on the style in the Madison time-trial
JLT Condor’s duo of Clancy and Mould won the Madison time-trial with an impressive time of 55.656 ahead of Tennant and Kiesse and Kalz and Grasmann.
In the first part of the Madison time-trial it was Lampre-Merida’s duo of Davide Cimolai and Roberto Ferrari who set the best time of 59.319 and their closest rivals were the of duo from Trek-Segafredo Edward Theuns and Giacomo Nizzolo who put in a time of 1min94s.
But when the second set of riders got underway it was evident that the track riders would have the edge over their WorldTour counterparts. Kalz and Grasmann set the ball rolling with a terrific time of 57.971. But Tennant and Kiesse replied with an even better time of 56.715, but not to be outdone it was the leaders JLT that saved the best till last as they shaved almost a second off of Pedalsure’s time.
Class is permanent as Kenny produces a masterclass to win the elimination race in Omnium
The action kept on coming as Laura Kenny won her first race of the Revolution Champions League series ahead of Evans after what was a tight elimination race.
After the majority of the riders were eliminated, the final quartet of riders was Kenny, Melissa Lowther (Team Breeze), Rhona Callander (Team Jaden Weldtite), and Evans.
It was evident Callander and Lowther couldn’t live with the pace set from Kenny and Evans, and as the race came down to the final two it was a trademark move down the back-straight from Kenny which won her race ahead of Evans who was a close second.
For Kenny it was a good victory as she experienced the new format of the Omnium for the first time this weekend. Kenny knows all about the Omnium as she is the current Olympic and World Champion of the event, but the 24-year-old showed no fear as she took victory in the penultimate Omnium event.
Kiesse impresses to take victory in the scratch race
Kiesse won the men’s scratch race after another entertaining affair as the men did battle for vital Champions League points. But for Pedalsure it was another important victory as Kiesse beat Mould in the decisive sprint to the line.
Earlier in the race the first definitive move of the scratch race was from Kiesse (Pedalsure), Sam Harrison (Wiggins), and Mould on the 24th lap, and on the eighth lap the trio lapped the group which put them in a dominant position.
As the race entered the final laps all eyes were on the leaders, and it was Mould who couldn’t live with the pace set from Kiesse as the Belgian took home the victory to give Pedalsure vital points in the hunt for the overall victory.
Evans wins the Omnium after another superb performance
The final race of the Omnium was an immensely tactical affair as the top four riders in contention for the overall win battled it out, but Evans once again showed why she is such a promising rider as she won the points race to secure overall victory in the Omnium.
Kenny, Barker, Frapporti, and Evans were the top four riders heading into the final event, and throughout the race they were intent on marking each other. But when the race hit the decisive laps it was Evans that gained the advantage to tie up the points race and in the process add another impressive victory to her catalogue of victories throughout the Champions League series.
Kiesse added his second win of the evening
Kiesse added his second victory of the evening in the final race of the men’s elite Championship, but it wasn’t enough to propel Pedalsure to overall victory as it was JLT Condor who wrapped up overall victory.
In the final elite Championship race of the evening the men put on another superb display but it was the Belgian who again excelled and took victory ahead of Mould, but it wasn’t enough to overthrow the JLT riders at the top of the leaderboard as Clancy and Mould took home the big prize.