Track: Rudy Project RT claim Elite Championship at Revolution 45

Track: Rudy Project RT claim Elite Championship at Revolution 45

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Location: Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London
Event: 14-15 March 2014


Revolution Series Round Five ended in amazing style at Lee Valley VeloPark on Saturday after two days of world-class track cycling.

Olympic Champion Laura Trott stole the headlines, completing a clean sweep in the womens' omnium, winning all six races over three sessions.

Meanwhile Rudy Project RT held on to win the men's Elite Championship, while Grace Garner and Joe Holt won the HOY Future Stars in front of Sir Chris himself.

It was as if the cyclists and fans had never been away since London 2012, the weekend atmosphere was electric and support for the riders magnificent.

And the evening kicked off in gladiatorial fashion, with France's Francois Pervis taking on Jason Kenny in the men's sprint semi-finals.

That was a highly-fuelled taster before 21-year-old Trott continued her domination of the Omnium, which began on Friday evening.

In Saturday's afternoon session she had won the women's pursuit to take her total to four event wins in four from the Omnium.

It was no surprise therefore that continued to enjoy the full support of the excitable crowd in Stratford.

The deafening crescendo in noise saw her over the line as she then confidently won the 40-lap Scratch race, ahead of the 500m time trial.

There was little doubt that Trott would complete the clean sweep, and that is exactly what she did shortly after 10.15pm with the crowd on their feet.

Meanwhile Rudy Project RT went into the evening session with a lead of 31 points in the Elite Championship, and their positioning never really looked in doubt.

Throughout Ed Clancy and Oliver Wood did their best to keep second-placed Rapha Condor JLT within touching distance of Rudy Project RT, edging their German rivals in a classic elimination race.

It was a great return to the iconic velodrome for Clancy, who dominated this arena in such style in 2012.

Rapha then won the 1km Madison TT, but despite the heroic efforts from the Brits the Germans finished top of the standings.

If they didn't win the Elite Championship overall, they certainly won the hearts of the crowd again, who were thrilled to see them win both elimination and Madison events.

Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy was on hand to watch the HOY Future stars battle it out for the girls' and boys' crowns.

Sophie Capewell and Grace Garner continued neck-and-neck throughout the evening, both dominating the lap dash and scratch race.

And it came down to the final event – the 5km points race – for the title to be decided between the two.

In yet another close affair, Garner just edged her way to the top of the standings.

With that she was crowned the girls' HOY Future Star, but she had to wait to be congratulated by Sir Chris as he was busy finishing a Twitter Q&A session.

In the boys Joe Holt defended his healthy lead and won the final event in the series - the 5km scratch race – to celebrate his crowning as the boy's HOY Future Star.

In terms of the UCI sprint, Pervis, having dispatched Kenny in the semi-finals, then demonstrated why he convincingly won three events at the World Championships in Colombia this year.

Callum Skinner, having beaten Quentin Lafargue himself, then took Pervis to the wire in the final.

But it wasn't to be, as the Frenchman was just too strong on the homestretch.

There was just time, after the presentation ceremonies, to see the Rest of the World beat Great Britain in the team sprint.

And that concluded an epic return to the Olympic Velodrome, which is now open to the public, and signalled the end to a hugely successful Revolution Series.