Revolution 12 on Saturday, February 18 at the Manchester velodrome, will be the last chance for British fans to see Rob Hayles and Chris Newton in action before they make the trip to Australia to prepare for the Commonwealth Games.
With the rest of the elite squad already down under, it will be up to Hayles and Newton to defend national pride against what will be the strongest international line up ever seen at a Revolution event. With four international teams including Matt Gilmore and Iljo Keisse from Belgium, Danny Stam and Peter Schep from Holland, Franco Marvulli and Alex Aeschbach from Switzerland, and Jimmi Madsen and Marc Hester from Denmark, the racing will be intense.
"With the line up at Revolution 12 the racing is going to be fast," commented Hayles. "I'm riding well at the moment and the preparation is going to plan so it will be good to get some fast racing in against the six day guys to fine tune my form, it should be an exciting end to the Revolution season so I'm looking forward to it."
For Newton, things haven't been running so smoothly as he suffered a deep cut to his hand in a crash at the end of the second stage at the Tour of Langkawi, "It was a sprint finish and I got edged out and there was only one place I could go and that was over my handlebars," said Newton. "I struggled a bit after that but it hasn't affected my preparation for the Games. I've had to do things a different way round but its all swings and roundabouts."
With a 20km madison serving as the final event on the program in Manchester, there have been concerns over Newton's participation, but the Recycling.co.uk rider is more than up for the challenge, "I'll be fine. I was a bit apprehensive when I heard the calibre of riders that will be there but the hand is healing up nicely so I don't think it will affect my performance. I'm feeling strong and I know Rob is so we will be ready to give it a good shot."
Hayles and Newton will be backed up by a strong domestic field featuring British Madison Champions Tony Gibb and James Taylor and DFL/Cyclingnews.com brothers Russell and Dean Downing.
More information: www.cyclingrevolution.com
