Team Sky target Revolution 31 as the heat to take them back to top spot

There's only two Revolution meetings left in this, the eighth season, and it's Team Sky who are talking a good game in the run-up to Saturday's penultimate clash. Currently the boys in blue (and black) are running second to the Maxgear team but they're eyeing up Saturday's racing as an opportunity to retake the top spot, and they're lining up Ross Edgar, Pete Kennaugh and Russell Downing in the hope of a high score.

This will be Downing's first outing on the boards in the Revolution series and he's expecting to find it tough. “I’ve been training pretty well on the turbo over the last few weeks” he said. “The track is a different ball game and the caliber of racing at Revolution is always top class. It will be a tough night of racing but I’ll do my best to score some points for the team.”
 
The endurance riders will be put to the test with a series of new races including a Team Elimination, Team Points Race and an Australian Pursuit. The latter in particular sounds like it should be a high-energy spectacle: eight pursuit riders on the track at the same time and it's a straight race to 3km, with anyone that gets caught by another competitor being eliminated. “We’ve put a twist on several of the races to test the endurance riders and make the racing even more exciting” commented Revolution Promoter James Pope. Good news for everyone, then. Except perhaps the riders...

Edgar has by his own admission spent much more time in the gym than on the track of late, so he's not talking up his form too much. "My strength is good so I’ll probably be pretty fast over the first 60m", he said, "but after that, who knows!” In the sprint racing there'll be a big team sprint showdown between the Dutch and the Brits, with Teun Mulder, Roy van den Berg and Hugo Haak lining up against Edgar, Craig Maclean and Dave Daniell. The sprinters will also get a 200m time trial, Keirin and match sprint to show their stuff.

Tickets are available for Revolution 31 online or by calling 0843 208 1840. Tickets will also be available to purchase on the door. You can head over to www.cyclingrevolution.com for full rider lists and updates before Saturday.