Auld enemy sprint battle at Revolution curtain-raiser

The opening event of the eighth track racing Revolution Series at the Manchester Velodrome will feature a thrilling Anglo-Scottish sprint showdown, thanks to a world-class line-up of sprinters from the two nations.

Top Scots Sir Chris Hoy, Ross Edgar and Chris Pritchard will go head to head in the Team Sprint with England’s Jason Kenny, David Daniell and Matt Crampton.

It’s a showdown that would only usually be witnessed at the Commonwealth Games. But with Hoy, Kenny and Crampton having opted out of the recent games in India, Revolution will provide a rare opportunity to witness this clash between the home nations.

It will also be a battle of youth versus experience. While Scots Hoy and Edgar have been the dominant track sprinting figures in recent years, England’s Kenny, Daniell and Crampton are showing themselves as the sprinters of the future. And as Kenny beat Hoy in the Open Sprint at the recent National Championships, the triple Olympic Gold medallist may have a point to make come Revolution 29.

There were mixed fortunes for the Revolution stars who were in Commonwealth action last week. Ross Edgar will be looking for redemption in the Revolution arena after his hopes were dashed when he was brought down by another rider in the Keirin semi-final. Daniell fared considerably better, bringing home a Keirin silver medal after being promoted from third place when the race winner was controversially relegated.

“I’m still buzzing after winning silver at the Commonwealth Games and I’m feeling really good going into the Revolution event,” explained Daniell. “The England versus Scotland race is bound to be hotly contested with a line-up like that, and should be a great one for the crowd to watch. I just hope they’ll be cheering for England!”

In addition to representing their home countries in the Team Sprint, each rider will be racing for one of the eight teams competing at Revolution this season. Cycling fans in the audience will be able to cheer on their favourite British trade teams, including Team Sky, Rapha Condor Sharp, Motorpoint and Max Gear.

There will also be some new sponsors to the team line up including global logistics services company CHEP, whose team will be captained by former Olympic and World Champion Craig MacLean. CHEP have been supporting MacLean’s work with the Paralympic team so the Revolution sponsorship is an exciting extension of this partnership.

“I’m very grateful to CHEP for their sponsorship of my work with the Paralympic team so I’m looking forward to reinforcing the partnership by captaining their team at Revolution,” MacLean said.
“My team won the Championships last year so I’m out to defend the title with the CHEP team this season.”

Tickets are selling fast, but some are still available for the opening event on October 23rd and are available to purchase on www.cyclingrevolution.com.