Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Back to news
news
Racing
Video: Longest Lap race causes controversy at latest round of Revolution SeriesAdam Blythe at Longest Lap at Revolution Series in Manchester, January 2015 (picture credit Luke Webber)

Video: Longest Lap race causes controversy at latest round of Revolution Series

Ed Clancy and Adam Blythe go head to head - but who was left disappointed?
by Simon_MacMichael
Fri, Jan 09, 2015 13:40
7

The Longest Lap race, based on the Marymoor Crawl, was back at the Revolution Series in Manchester last weekend. Firmly established as a crowd-pleaser, there was controversy as Adam Blythe and Ed Clancy were set to go head to head, but one was disqualified from the event.

To refresh you overthe rules, riders move forward towards the start line of the one-lap race, but don’t know exactly when the signal will be given for it to begin and in the meantime they cannot put a foot on the ground, impede another rider, grab a handrail or – crucially in this case – cross the start line.

Blythe in the colours of his new team, Orica-GreenEdge, was the rider who was disqualified and afterwards he explained what had happened.

“Some absolute halfwit in the stand whistled, and of course I was ready for a whistle or a gun,” he said.

“So I flinched, went forward a little bit over the line but then I rolled backwards properly, and they disqualified me.

“So technically I’d say I’ve won that because I was there really, ready to go”

Speaking of the winner, JLT-Condor’s Clancy, he added with a smile: “Hollow victory, innit, doesn’t mean anything for him, rubbish.”

“I personally just think he lost his balance,” laughed Clancy. “No, I think he got confused between the whistle and the gun.

“It’s good for me, I know he’s pretty good at balancing, he’s a lot better balancer there than I was, so I was hoping something went wrong.

“I enjoyed that, it’s a lot easier than the scratch race as well.”

There will be full highlights of last weekend’s racing on Channel 4 tomorrow morning at 7am and they will be available to view online on 4OD afterwards.

The next round takes place in Glasgow on Saturday 31 January; you can buy tickets online here or by calling See Tickets on 0844 854 2016.

Marymoor Crawl
Longest Lap
Revolution series
Adam Blythe
Ed Clancy
Simon MacMichael

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

7 comments

Avatar
Bhachgen | 9 years ago
0 likes

All the comments were very much in jest. Though I'm sure Blythe was pretty hacked off initially. Everyone gasped a little at how close Clancy set himself up to the line (about a bike length, not much margin for error in a 4 minute track stand). Then Blythe went right past him and parked up about 3 inches shy of the line. All good fun.

Do watch the highlights. Clancy was awesome on the night and the Women's Elimination Race is also well worth a watch, even without Ms Trott in the field.

Avatar
TeamExtreme | 9 years ago
0 likes

Call me a spoil-sport but I think this and the Marymoor crawl is a load of garbage. If I wanted to watch trackstands I'd go down to Shoreditch and sit at some traffic lights.

Avatar
rasalati | 9 years ago
0 likes

I've not watched the video with sound, so hard to tell how confusing the whistle may have been, but no-one else at the line made a false start. And a "little bit over the line" was a full front wheel. For what was essentially a fun event, his response makes him seem like a bit of a sore loser.

Avatar
farrell replied to rasalati | 9 years ago
0 likes
rasalati wrote:

I've not watched the video with sound, so hard to tell how confusing the whistle may have been, but no-one else at the line made a false start. And a "little bit over the line" was a full front wheel. For what was essentially a fun event, his response makes him seem like a bit of a sore loser.

It was a fun event; his response, in both what he said and his arm waving and giving the thumbs down to the crowd as he rode round, was very much him being the 'Pantomime Villain'. It was all good natured really.

Avatar
rasalati replied to farrell | 9 years ago
0 likes
farrell wrote:

It was a fun event; his response, in both what he said and his arm waving and giving the thumbs down to the crowd as he rode round, was very much him being the 'Pantomime Villain'. It was all good natured really.

Ah, fair enough! That'll teach me to watch without sound (and stop before it got to his interview where he has a big grin on his face).

Avatar
farrell replied to rasalati | 9 years ago
0 likes
rasalati wrote:
farrell wrote:

It was a fun event; his response, in both what he said and his arm waving and giving the thumbs down to the crowd as he rode round, was very much him being the 'Pantomime Villain'. It was all good natured really.

Ah, fair enough! That'll teach me to watch without sound (and stop before it got to his interview where he has a big grin on his face).

I haven't watched the video properly myself if I'm honest, but that was the general consensus around us on Saturday night.

Avatar
antonio | 9 years ago
0 likes

Clancy was brilliant on the night, the B in the Bang then Ed exploded, and how!

Latest Comments