Two legends of Rugby League go head to head in a celebrity Italian Pursuit at Revolution 23 on Saturday night. Denis Betts and Mike Forshaw both played for Wigan and England in their career but this time the ex-club mates will be squaring up on the Velodrome track.
The Italian Pursuit will kick off the race programme with a mix of Future Stars, Endurance riders and Sprinters making up the teams. Betts and Forshaw will race the first lap before peeling off to allow the DHL Future Stars to take over. There will be legs from two elite women riders before Victoria Pendleton and Ed Clancy go head to head with Anna Blyth and Jason Kenny over the final two laps. The teams have been designed to be evenly matched but it is the start and first lap that can make the difference, so the pressure will be on the rugby stars.
The race will continue the rugby theme in the Italian Pursuit following Martin Johnson’s appearance at Revolution 20 last season. On that occasion the ex-England captain nearly broke his Dolan track bike under the force of his standing start but still proved triumphant over a team led by Geoff Thomas.
There will be more celebrity action on the Rollapaluza Roller Racing rig which returns to Revolution presented by Condor Cycles. Betts will feature once again as he goes head to head against 400m Olympic medalist Iwan Thomas. Thomas will be at Revolution covering the event for Channel 4 so the roller race will give the TV cameras the chance to show their man in action.
Revolution 23 is sold out but TV highlights will be aired on Channel M – www.channelm.co.uk. Highlights of the event will also be shown on Channel 4 as part of the new 4Sport show. For full details of programme times go to www.cyclingrevolution.com.
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Rugby League stars to race Italian Pursuit at Revolution 23

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No - it's just that that bright yellow demands all the attention, so the rest of your kit gets overlooked.
Except that, er, they did consider exceptions, in that they specifically provided in the legislation for local authorities to apply exceptions. You could argue over how long they had to implement them, but to say they weren't considered is just not true. And the fact that a few roads have now changed back isn't 'backtracking' - it's authorities using the legislation as designed.
@Rendel Harris I'm confused. Who the hell was he shouting at?? You were "invisible" after all. After years of riding I've concluded that all of my bikes have a cloaking device fitted to them. It's the only explanation for the litany of close passes, left hooks, near misses and collisions that I've been on the end of. Even when wearing bright clothing & running lights in broad daylight, I once found myself airborne over the bonnet of a Kia Sportage whose driver piled onto the roundabout I was already negotiating. The drivers response, having stood by whilst passers by helped my broken form out of the road, was the ubiquitous "I didn't see you". Never fear though, there is a safety mechanism that kicks in occasionally (but only if another rider jumps a red light). At that point I can be seen from space by Daily Mail readers - I know this because I've more than once been subjected to a tirade of abuse about red light jumping cyclists from drivers.......whilst I have been waiting at a red light.
I feel that this is the way platforms are heading now but this would only appeal to me if i could take a session outside rather than being chained to the turbo for all of them.
@Boopop I think every cyclist has stories of being lit up like a Christmas tree, and all the works, yet still having a SMIDSY moment
@Rendel Harris I would’ve replied to the driver, “Who said that? Is there anybody there?” 🙂
So they're kind of bossy and won't let others get a word in?
@DrG82 I think it was well implemented overall, though that is because I agree with the basic point: the speed limit where vehicles interact with pedestrians etc should be 20mph* by default: 30mph can be considered as an exception (e.g a major road with significant mitigating infrastructure, controlled crossings and so on). Some Welsh local authorities have been keener to create exceptions than others for sure. Here in Bristol, we have had widespread 20mph limits for around 15 years. The only downside I saw is that I got used to driving at 20 and would find myself doing so where the limit was 30 in other locations, to the annoyance of drivers behind (though perhaps the relief of pedestrians in front) *There was once a substantial UK report that found the default speed limit should be around 10mph to ensure that pedestrians are not killed by drivers. That seems a long way off.
@slc I wouldn't say that the Welsh government got everything right. They applied the speed limit changes uniformly, without considering exceptions, and have since back tracked in many places. This has been a massive waste of money.
Yelled at by a driver just last month, "It's farkin' dark you farkin' twat why are you riding around wiv a black coat on? You're farkin' invisible!" To be fair, I was wearing a black jacket - a Proviz commuter jacket which is covered in their unparalleled reflective details which, as I know because Mrs H wears the same model, can be seen from hundreds of metres away. He also overlooked the fact that I was wearing a fluorescent yellow helmet, fluorescent yellow gloves, had a rear red light on the helmet, two rear red lights (one strobing one solid) and three white lights on the front (one strobing two solid). Apparently all he could see, or supposedly couldn't see, was the black jacket. They used to be an old joke about "invisible" stealth planes being rubbish because the Russians would be saying, "There aren't any planes about but there's a little guy in a sitting position at 50,000 feet..." - must have been confusing for my chap to see all those lights, reflectives and bright gear apparently going down the street of their own volition.