Olympic hopefuls shine at Revolution Series opener

Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish team up for the first time since 2008 to win the Madison at the opening Revolution Series meet in Derby

Mark Cavendish and Sir Bradley Wiggins stole the show on day three of the Revolution Series in Derby on Sunday, teaming up to take victory in the Madison - the latter's second win of the weekend.

The duo teamed up on the track for the first time since the Beijing Olympics to beat young British duo Germain Burton and Matthew Gibson in the new velodrome, with Wiggins having taken the win in Friday's team pursuit as well.

"It's always nice to ride together," Wiggins said after the Madison. "The last time we rode together [in 2008] he'd just won four stages in the Tour and I hadn't even crossed a railway bridge in a race.

"Look what's happened in the past seven years. If you had said to us in Beijing that I'd have gone onto win the Tour and everything else and he'd gone onto win another 21 stages, a green jersey and a world title.

"To come back seven years on and race together, with everything we have achieved, is nice. It's nice for the crowd to go home happy after seeing that."

Cavendish nearly added to his win tally in the omnium - an event at which he could compete for Team GB at the Rio 2016 Olympics - but fell just 18 points shy of London 2012 bronze medallist Ed Clancy.

Laura Trott edged past Wiggle-Honda's Julien D'Hoore in the women's omnium by three points to round off a busy individual weekend in which she came third in the individual pursuit and second in the scratch race.

Joanna Rowsell won the individual pursuit, while sprinter Jess Varnish lost out to Katy Marchant in the women's sprint, with Marchant going unbeaten in every round.

The meet marked the return to the track for Becky James, who has struggled with injuries for the past two seasons, but she lost out in the 1/8 finals of the women's sprint.

 

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Stuart Clarke is a News Associates trained journalist who has worked for the likes of the British Olympic Associate, British Rowing and the England and Wales Cricket Board, and of course Cycling Weekly. His work at Cycling Weekly has focused upon professional racing, following the World Tour races and its characters.