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Revolution #2 - NE
Vodaphone Arena, Melbourne, Australia, December 19, 2007
Thrills and one big spill at Revolution 2
By Mal Sawford in Melbourne
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The near capacity crowd of close to 5000 faced a difficult decision: just what was the highlight of an action packed night? Was it the outstanding performances from Leigh Howard early in the night to twice snatch victory from dual Olympic gold medalist Graeme Brown; or Brown's fight back and showmanship as he claimed the elimination and points races; Stuey O'Grady's gutsy win in the derny race; or perhaps even the spectacular pile-up that claimed almost the entire Future Stars field?
Whichever way they leant, the atmosphere generated by the appreciative crowd certainly seemed to spur the riders on. As Graeme Brown put it, "the more they cheer, the faster I go!"
Once again, the star riders were introduced to the crowd tracked by a spot light as they circled the darkened velodrome. Junior world champion Josephine Tomic was first out, followed by Alan Davis, local favourite Shane Kelly, Anna and Kerrie Meares and dual Olympic champion Ryan Bayley, with Stuart O'Grady drawing a deafening reaction as he burst onto the track.
Men's Scratch
Brown (Rabobank) was immediately in the thick of the action, jumping clear of the bunch along with Canadian strongman Zach Bell, Australian track cyclist of the year Cameron Meyer and Nick Sanderson (South Australia.com-AIS) nine laps from home. Howard had help from Jayco VIS team mate Glenn O'Shea to reach the leaders, but a concerted chase saw the bunch reform in the final kilometer.
Despite the frantic pace, both Brown and Howard kept good position, and it was Brown who launched the dash to the line, moving into a share of the lead with Brett Aitken (Savings & Loans) with a lap and a half to race. Howard left his charge to the final bend, and powered past both riders to take the win.
"That was very, very fast," the 18 year-old commented afterwards. "I thought I had to get across, I really thought that break was going to stick and I was able to get there without doing anymore than I had to, I got there very quickly, and made sure I kept good position when they came back."
Women's Points
Aggressive racing from the outset by a very evenly matched women's field saw a slew of lead changes and an enthralling contest. Jessica Berry (Jayco VIS) took the first sprint, only to see Josephine Tomic immediately counter attack. Tomic was reeled in just in time for the second of the six sprints, won by Canadian star Gina Grain, with Tess Downing (Drapac-Porsche) picking up points in both sprints to share the lead with the two sprint winners.
Nicole Whitburn (HIT Racing) launched after the second sprint, but couldn't shake off Tomic and Downing. Tomic won the sprint, but the second place points moved Downing to eight and into the lead. With the field together again, Berry sprinted to her second win and back into the lead, while Grain's three points saw her share second place with Downing.
Whitburn's second attack went unanswered, allowing her to take the penultimate sprint, with Downing leading the bunch in pursuit to reclaim the lead, a single point ahead of Berry. An attack by Julia Bradley in the final laps, and a successful pursuit from Ireland's top trackie Louise Moriaty took the top two places at the finish, with Berry unable to figure in the points. Downing celebrated the win, before discovering to her dismay that the final sprint was worth double points, vaulting Moriaty to the top step of the podium.
The Irish woman was equally surprised to discover she was the winner, "I didn't realize until about ten minutes afterwards when somebody told me! I didn't know there were double points for the last sprint. I just wanted to have an attack, and I had intended to attack after one of the earlier sprints but there wasn't an appropriate moment - my legs just took me then, so I went."
Men's Keirin
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Both Mark French and Shane Perkins led all the way in their heats to reach the Keirin final, with Perkins fighting off a determined challenge from Bayley in his heat.
French won the drag race for the derny in the final, with Perkins, Shane Kelly (Jayco VIS), Toshiba team mates Scott Sunderland and Bayley, and Jason Niblett (Jayco VIS) lining up behind him. After the derny swung off, Kelly jumped early and got past Perkins before French lifted the pace to keep Kelly on his hip.
The pair raced side by side for the final lap and a half, only to see Perkins storm past in the home straight to take the win. "You've got to be patient in these races. If they want to go early, that's cool," remarked Perkins. "It's pretty hard to go flat out for two laps. That's my sort of race, and I've been trying different stuff this year. It's good fun to try out some new race moves, and get a bit of fitness after my chest infection and the bit of back problems I had in Beijing."
"I'm going to Tassie on the 25th to race a few of the carnivals there and have a bit fun. Then it's the Los Angeles World Cup on the 18th of January which is going to be a big one, I'm looking forward to that."
Champions Motor Pace
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O'Grady's (Team CSC) sole appearance on the boards was a successful one. In the early laps, he seemed content to let his pacer sit at the tail of the bunch, while early leaders Matt Wilson (Unibet.com), Alan Davis (Discovery Channel) and Hilton Clarke (Navigators) shared the lead.
The first to crack as pace picked up was Brown's derny! Traditional dernies are hard to come by in Melbourne, so the field raced behind an assortment of motorbikes and scooters (including a traditional 'postie's bike'), but Brown drew the short straw, having to follow the only classic derny. With his driver struggling to keep pace with the more powerful machines, Brown simply jumped into the slipstream of firstly Davis, then Clarke, and at one point actually held second place on the track before finally hoisting the white flag! "I like to entertain a little, I wanted to be in the running, but my derny wasn't quick enough, so I had to improvise a little. It didn't quite work out, but as long as the crowd enjoyed it, I'm happy."
Wilson took back the lead with 12 laps remaining, before O'Grady made his big move to the front with eight laps to race and opened a handy lead. Clarke and Davis came close in the final laps, but O'Grady had timed his effort perfectly to take the win.
Afterwards, O'Grady joked, "winning Paris-Roubaix was easier than that. I need another 200km! At one point I looked up at the score board and saw we had 14 laps to go and I wish I hadn't looked. I was on the limit for the last 15 to 16 laps and I tried to break it down - eight laps to go, that's only two kays. It was tough."
Communicating with his driver wasn't easy either. "There was a lot of noise out there, from the motor bikes, from the crowd, and from my heart beating at 210 beats per minute!"
Melbourne Cup on Wheels Final
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Qualifying heats for the 71st edition of the Melbourne Cup on Wheels were held in an afternoon session along side a full program of races for club and junior athletes. Three scratch riders won through in the field of 24, with Aitken and Brown joining Howard, the 2005 winner. The three scratchies gave up a 240 metre headstart to outmarker Brett Rollinson, and lined up a scant ten metres ahead: in effect Rollinson needed to complete seven laps of the track faster than the back markers could do eight.
Rollinson paced himself well, and survived six laps in the lead, while behind him the rest of the field came together. Brown and Howard got armchair rides to the back of the main bunch, with Aitken then leading the pair around the outside of the bunch before Zak Dempster (South Australia.com-AIS) launched his bid for the trophy.
Brown reacted quickly and caught Dempster's wheel, and almost as quickly as Dempster had hit the lead, Brown was past him again with his ears pinned back. Once again though, Howard, a 3 to 1 favourite with the book makers, had the speed to fly at Brown late, and stormed home to take the win by a narrow margin, in the very quick time of 2'04.39" for the 2000 metres. Zach Bell rode strongly for third place.
"It was fantastic to come around Graeme Brown on the last bend, it's quite a difficult task but I managed to pull it off as I did earlier this evening, so it's fantastic" an elated Howard said after the race.
"A few weeks ago I was on a training camp with him before the Sydney World Cup and he's a great bloke, really good to get along with and obviously quite a funny guy. He's good for the crowd. Browny is a two time Olympic champion, and world record holder. It's good to learn off blokes like that."
Howard, who teamed up with Miles Olman to win the Under 25 Six Day series in Europe admits to targeting Olympic selection further down the track. "I'm probably not looking at Beijing It's a pretty tough ask when you look at the quality we have and the Olympics are next year, but definitely London is on the cards."
Women's Sprint
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British junior Jess Vanish led out the three up final, and certainly didn't look daunted at the prospect of racing both the Meares sisters. The win seemed something of a formality for Anna, however, as she allowed her older sister to overhaul the youngster before racing past both with impressive speed in the final bend for the win.
"Talk about rivalry, when you've got a Pom and a sister out there!" said the winner, who clearly enjoys the support she receives from Melbourne crowds. "I only ever have great meetings at this track. Gold and silver at the World's, and gold and silver at the Commonwealth Games, now wins at both the Revs."
Men's Elimination
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"I think I can still get a win tonight, I've got two more chances and I'm due. Hopefully I can roll him [Howard] in the elimination; he's going pretty well and might be tough to beat in the points race," was Graeme Brown's prediction ahead of the elimination. Brown had one less thing to worry about, when Howard was the first rider eliminated, caught at the back of a long line of strung out riders. Brown on the other hand stayed well positioned and was never out of the top four as the bunch dwindled each lap.
By the end of the eliminations, surviving alongside Brown were Davis, Clark and O'Shea, but none could match Brown's finishing burst as he took the win to the roars of the crowd.
Women's Scratch
After the action packed points race, the women's scratch was a little sedate in comparison, with the only serious attack coming from Peta Mullens (Jayco VIS) at two to go. While the rest hesitated, Kate Cullen (Scotland) chased, and after catching the local rider, powered on to take the win.
Liz Georgouras outsprinted Rochelle Gilmore (Menikini Gysko) and Gina Grain for the minor places.
Women's Keirin
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Anna Meares elected not to start the Keirin, concerned about aggravating a slight chest infection she had picked up at the World Cup round in Beijing. Another local rider, Apryl Eppinger, who now represents Singapore, blitzed the start to hold position behind the derny in the opening laps, but once the derny left the track Kaarle McCulloch took up the front running.
Kerrie Meares was simply too good once the sprint started in earnest, powering smoothly past to win comfortably. After long suffering back problems, Kerrie was pleased to announce that she is "injury free, and looking forward to contesting with, and training with my sister in the lead up to Beijing."
She will target the team sprint at the Manchester World Championships in March. "I'm racing with Kaarle, and we're looking forward to really challenging for that gold medal."
Men's Sprint
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The sprint final saw Olympic champion Bayley line up against Jason Niblett, after Niblett knocked Shane Perkins out with an impressive front running effort in the second round. In contrast, Bayley looked to have a much easier ride against Shane Kelly and was expected to have little trouble with the much less fancied Victorian.
Niblett took it right up to Bayley in the final, and forced Bayley to start his effort a long way out. Niblett drag raced Bayley for almost two full laps, and still found the strength to challenge strongly as the line neared, and came agonizingly close to pulling off the upset.
Bayley didn't seem overly concerned about the close call on the back of his current heavy training load. "My fitness and speed are coming together. I've just got to remember what it's like to win races again, and there's plenty of time. Come Beijing, just try and stop me!"
Men's Points
Leigh Howard attacked at the start of the fifty lap race, setting an aggressive tone for the final race of the program. Alone, he had little chance of holding off the field, which regrouped before the first sprint, with Graeme Brown and Cameron Meyer beating him over the line.
Meyer took the second sprint and the lead after bridging to a break by Zak Dempster, Alan Davis, James Lagedyk (Jayco VIS) and Brett Aitken, while a win in the third to Glenn O'Shea saw him well in contention.
Attacks by Zach Bell and Miles Olman (South Australia.com-AIS) were unsuccessful, and Brown moved within a point of Meyer with a win in the penultimate sprint. Dempster went again soon after joined by Hilton Clarke, while a trio of chasers tried to get on terms.
Once Davis, David Pell and O'Shea joined the leading pair, and with ten points on offer for the final sprint, Brown needed to get back on terms. Nick Sanderson did a huge turn to reduce the margin, spurred on by Brown flailing his own leg with an imaginary jockey's whip, before Brown jumped across to, then past the leaders, taking the final win by a big enough margin to salute his 5000 new biggest fans.
"I guess sometimes you have good nights, but I didn't think it was going to come back. I had a good sized gear on though, so once I got there I knew they couldn't stop me."
Future Stars
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Trevor Griffiths dominated the Under 18 Men's racing with three wins from three starts, even if much of the field was nursing injuries from the spectacular final lap pile-up in the opening 2000 metre scratch race. Riders tangled at fourth wheel entering the back straight, and slid across the track; causing a chain reaction that left the following riders nowhere to go. In all, thirteen riders came down, with Toby Dite's double cartwheel and face first rail slide along the track fence sure to feature on TV and internet clips around the world. Amazingly, all riders walked away from the carnage and most were able to resume racing: these kids are made of pretty tough stuff!
O'Grady, still recovering from his terrible crash at the Tour de France, agreed. "It was good to see the kids get up. It's a tough sport, crashes happen, it's not about if you're going to crash; it's when you're going to crash. The important part is how you get back up and how you carry on afterwards."
Honours were shared in the Under 18 Women's races with Carly McCoombe, Shannon McCurley and Laine Hammond all picking up wins – and all the girls staying upright!
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Fiona Carnibella/www.pixweb.com.au
- Mark French kicked off an exciting night taking the first Shape Group Revolution Keirin Heat
- Shane Perkins proved too strong in the Keirin Final defeating French and Kelly
- Leigh Howard and Graeme Brown battled all night - Howard took the win here for the Swanston Hotel Revolution Scratch Race
- The Future Stars Double Kilo Dash was spectacular - although perhaps not for the right reasons?
- Matt Wilson and Allan Davis (behind) tried to chase down Stuart O'Grady who went on a rampage in the Revolution Champions Race
- O'Grady returned to the track and didn't look back, winning the Revolution Champions Race
- Brown and Howard were at it again....
- Howard was on fire taking his second win for the night in the Swanston Hotel Melbourne Cup on Wheels over Brown and Bell
- Stuart O'Grady kept the crowds pleased
- Back on the track, Anna and Kerrie Meares went head to head in the women's sprint final!
- Ryan Bayley - back for round two, eager to make it back to back victories in the Bicycle Superstore Revolution Men's Sprint
- Jason Niblett goes through to meet Bayley in the next round of the mens sprint
- Shane Perkins also got through his sprint heat and still made time for his littlest fans
- Shane Kelly also went through to the next sprint round but couldn't get past Bayley
- The men's sprint came down to Bayley and Niblett...
- Who guessed it?! - the crowd went wild as Ryan Bayley won the Men's Sprint Final for the second time at the Vodafone Arena
- Zach Demspter was a strong contender for the Swanston Hotel Revolution Elimination Race.
- Graeme Brown took the win over Allan Davis and Glenn OShea for the Swanston Hotel Revolution Elimination Race.
- And to top of the night Howard and Brown clashing heads in the Swanston Hotel Points Race
- At the business end Brown emerged the winner of the 2007 Swanston Hotel Points Race
- Graeme Brown salutes the crowd and farewells the 2007 Cycling Revolution...
Images by Carl Brewer/www.aboc.com.au
- The Meares sisters in the spotlight
- Stuart O'Grady gets the big screen
- Ryan Bayley knows tonight will be a hard day at the office
- Keirin heats - can I get any closer?
- Leigh Howard was king in the scratch race,
- The women's scratch race had some close riding
- Rochelle Gilmore recovers after the scratch race
- The aftermath of the big crash in the Future Stars
- Even the barriers took a beating
- Match sprinting at its finest
- The Derny race - who drew the lucky wheel and who got the broken derny?
- Graham Brown got the broken derny - but left it and played leapfrog
- O'Grady had the advantage of a big hole in the air
- Brown jumped from wheel to wheel to stay in the derny race
- O'Grady stayed glued to his derny's wheel to take the win
- That hurt ... but it feels good when you stop
- Big Eddie Wilson warms up for the main race of the night
- Stu Vaughan, world masters pursuit champion launches the outmarkers
- They call him the "V-Train"
- Brown didn't give anyone much room, but Leigh Howard got his second win in the Melbourne Cup on Wheels
- No speeding please...
- Kerrie leads Anna in the women's sprint final
- Kerrie Meares happy with her second place
- But Anna's happier with first
- Make sure the cleaners don't take your bike too ...
- Ryan Bayley with the hammer down. Catch me if you can.
- Two champions of the track , Bayley was just too quick for Shane Kelly
- Stuart's had enough for the night it's time to go home
- Where are you? I'm watching you ...
- Kerrie Meares in the last sprint for the night, the women's Keirin
- Two to go and in the box seat
- Got it
- Laine Hammond grits her teeth in the women's future stars
- Brett Aitken on his new Avanti rode well all night, but the last race belonged to Brown
Results
The Shape Group Revolution Keirin Heats Heat 1 1 Mark French 2 Shane Kelly 2 Jason Niblett Heat 2 1 Shane Perkins 2 Ryan Bayley 3 Scott Sunderland The Swanston Hotel Revolution Scratch Race 1 Leigh Howard 2 Graeme Brown 3 Brett Aitken 4 Todd Wilksch 5 Allan Davis 6 Zach Bell Nab Revolution Points Race Elite Women 1 Louise Moriarty 13 pts 2 Tess Downing 11 3 Gina Grain 10 4 Jessica Berry 10 2Xu Future Stars Double Kilo Dash - Males 1 Trevor Griffiths 2 Dale Parker 3 Angus Tobin 4 Gavin Sittampalam 5 Lachlan Ritchie 2Xu Future Stars Double Kilo Dash - Females 1 Carly Mccoombe 2 Laine Hammond 3 Shannon Mccurley 4 Kendelle Hodges 5 Veronica Dudderidge 6 Amy Cure 7 Stephanie Hansen 8 Sarah Cure 9 Maelle Howarth 10 Chloe Mcintosh 11 Julie Warren 12 Marquessa Jelbart 13 Angela Mcclure The Shape Revolution Keirin Final Elite Men 1 Shane Perkins 2 Shane Kelly 3 Mark French 4 Jason Niblett 5 Ryan Bayley 6 Scott Sunderland Nab Revolution Keirin Final Elite Men Heat 1: 1 Anna Meares 2 Apryl Eppinger Heat 2: 1 Kerrie Meares 2 Josephine Butler Heat 3: 1 Jess Varnish 2 Kaarle Mcculloch 3 Liz Georgouras Revolution Champions Race Selected 1 Stuart O'Grady 2 Hilton Clarke 3 Allan Davis 4 Matthew Wilson The Swanston Hotel - Melbourne Cup On Wheels 1 Leigh Howard 2 Graeme Brown 3 Zach Bell 4 Zach Dempster 5 Adrian Sansonetti 2Xu Future Stars Motor Pace- M18 1 Trevor Griffiths 2 Aaron Box 3 Chris Jehu 4 Angus Tobin 5 Brodie Pearse 6 Lewis Fulcher 7 Dale Parker 8 Maddison Hammond 9 Patrick Lane 10 Oliver Le Grice 11 Gavin Sittampalam 2Xu Future Starts Motor Pace W18 1 Shannon Mccurley 2 Carly Mccoombe 3 Laine Hammond 4 Amy Cure 5 Veronica Dudderidge 6 Sarah Cure 7 Stephanie Hansen 8 Kendelle Hodges 9 Chloe Mcintosh 10 Netasha Pearse Nab Revolution Sprint Final Elite Women 1 Anna Meares 2 Kerrie Meares 3 Jess Varnish Bicycle Superstore Revolution Sprint Heats - Elite Men Heat 1 1 Ryan Bayley 2 Byron Davis Heat 2 1 Jason Niblett 2 Scott Sunderland Heat 3 1 Shane Kelly 2 Marco Bortzi 3 Daniel Ellis Heat 4 1 Shane Perkins 2 Joel Leonard 3 Mark French Hlb Mann Judd Revolution Elimination Race Elite Men 1 Graeme Brown 2 Allan Davis 3 Glenn O'shea 4 Hilton Clarke Nab Revolution Scratch Race Elite Women 1 Kate Cullen 2 Liz Georgouras 3 Rochelle Gilmore 4 Gina Grain 5 Jessica Berry 6 Sky Lee Armstrong 7 Josphine Tomic 8 Louise Moriarty 9 Peta Mullens Bicycle Superstore Revolution Sprint 2nd Round Elite Men Heat 1 1 Ryan Bayley 2 Shane Kelly Heat 2 1 Jason Niblett 2 Shane Perkins Nab Revolution Keirin Final Elite Women 1 Kerrie Meares 2 Kaarle Mcculloch 3 Liz Georgouras 4 Josphine Butler 5 Apryl Eppinger 6 Jess Varnish 2Xu Future Stars Scratch M18 1 Trevor Griffiths 2 Lewis Fulcher 3 Chris Jehu 4 Dale Parker 5 Oliver Le Grice 6 Angus Tobin 7 Gavin Sittampalam 8 Maddison Hammond 2Xu Future Stars Scratch W18 1 Laine Hammond 2 Netasha Pearse 3 Shannon Mccurley 4 Carly Mccoombe 5 Marquessa Jelbart 6 Amy Cure 7 Kendelle Hodges 8 Stephanie Hansen 9 Veronica Dudderidge 10 Angela Mcclure 11 Chloe Mcintosh 12 Maelle Howarth 13 Julie Warren 14 Sarah Cure Bicycle Superstore Revolution Sprintmen 1 Ryan Bayley 2 Jason Niblett Bicycle Superstore Revolution Sprint Final Elite Men 1 Graeme Brown 20 pts 2 Cameron Meyer 11 3 Alan Davis 10 4 Zak Dempster 8 5 Leigh Howard 6 6 Glen O'shea 4 7 Hilton Clarke 2 8 Zach Bell 2 9 Darren Young 2
