There’s plenty of action, indoors and out the Britishcycling.org.uk website this week. Here are a few of the highlights:

INTERVIEW WITH UP AND COMING STAR KIERAN PAGE – GO THERE>>>

NICOLE COOKE ON HER FUTURE PLANS – GO THERE>>>

REVOLUTION 6 IN WORDS AND PICS:
Report and photos from the weekend’s stunning Revolution 6 Track meeting which had just about everything, from crashes to records and some of the best Future Stars racing of the series.

Next week, there will be all the action and news from the final round of the Cyclo-Cross National Trophy (see preview below). Also on the site the classified ads – click the link from the homepage to access this free and effective member service, which we have updated with some new guidelines to protect advertisers and buyers. GO THERE>>>

The Cyclo-Cross National Trophy series reaches its fifth and final round at The Grange Park in Dudley this Sunday, with both the men's and women's elite series finely balanced.

Matt Ellis carries just a ten point cushion into the last round over closest rival Jody Crawforth, but cannot afford to be complacent. With 50 points for first place, 44 for second and 40 for third, he knows that a high finish one place behind Crawforth would be sufficient to win his first Trophy title. However he must also keep one eye open for Liam Killeen, the victor at Ipswich, who although out of contention for the overall series after missing other rounds, could hold the key to the title. If Crawforth gets away, and Killeen comes between him and Ellis, then the Evans rider would match Ellis's points tally and take the Trophy by virtue of his higher placing in the final round. Neither can the two leading contenders afford to mark each other and let Killeen ride away. Lurking within striking distance of the top spot on the podium are both Nick Craig and Adrian Timmis, and if either of these get away with Killeen, or if the two series leaders have problems, then the result could be in the balance.

In the women's series Helen Wyman holds a four point lead over Victoria Wilkinson, both with two wins apiece in the preceding four rounds but with Louise Robinson's second place ahead of Wilkinson in the penultimate encounter at Mallory accounting for the points difference. Wyman is the rider in form, coming into the final round on the heels of a sixth place in Wednesday's World Cup in Milan, where Robinson and Wilkinson finished 20th and 24th respectively. Like Killeen in the men's event, Robinson is out of overall contention after missing earlier rounds, but could prove a thorn in the side of the two leaders. Another interesting addition to the mix is the surprise entry of Nicole Cooke, contesting her first major cyclo-cross since the 2001 World Championships in the Czech Republic. Cooke's challenge in the race should not be underestimated, but with the points so close, the series is really down to a head to head between the two leaders.

In the Junior and Youth competitions, Alex Atkins and Adam Turner already have their respective series titles sewn up, and cannot be overtaken. But there is an almighty battle in prospect for the remaining podium places in the youth series, with just two points separating the next three riders, Tom Smart, Andrew Griffiths and Jonathan McEvoy. Only a failure to finish inside the top 20 and victory for Terry Tiffen can deny Andy Key a second successive title in the Veteran's Trophy, but the over 50s competition is a much closer affair. Defending Champion Carl McDonagh trails series leader David Smith by eight points, and must be bemoaning his off-day in the second round at Cheltenham which cost him the series lead. Graham Edwards and Andy Roberts look too far adrift to catch the two leaders, but will be keenly contesting the final podium place.

In the remaining subsiduary green jersey competitions, Ian Bibby holds a comfortable lead in the under-23 category, while Michael Butler will be looking to complete a clean sweep of victories to confirm his under-14 title.

The action starts at 10:30 am with the youth finale, followed by veterans at 11:30 am, juniors and women at 1:15 pm, and senior men at 2:15 pm.

Do you belong to a Go-Ride Club? Would your Go-Ride Club Officials like 2 free tickets to watch the Track Cycling World Cup in Manchester? British Cycling is offering 2 free tickets per Go-Ride Club for the forthcoming 2005 UCI World Cup Classic event that will be held at the Manchester Velodrome from the 7th to the 9th January. There are 27 pairs of tickets up for grabs for the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions. Tickets are offered on a first come/first served basis to the registered officials of Go-Ride Clubs. This offer is limited to 2 tickets per Go-Ride Club. The closing date for this offer is Friday 17th December and tickets are in great demand; so if your club would like to receive 2 free tickets to this prestigious event, please send a stamped self-addressed envelope clearly stating:
1) The name of your Go-Ride Club
2) The names of the 2 Registered Go-Ride Officials
3) Which day you would like to attend (nb tickets are only available for the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions)
4) Your daytime telephone number.

Apply to: Go-Ride Ticket Offer, British Cycling, National Cycling Centre, Stuart Street, Manchester M11 4DQ.

Ribble Valley Juniors CRC won the prestigious award of ‘Community Club of the Year’ at the BBC North West Sports Awards held on Monday, December 6th. As recent winners of the Lancashire Club of the Year award, held in September, the club was then put forward to the North West Awards. They beat clubs from 4 other counties to win the prize.

Club coaches Chris Waters and Kevin Suart represented the club on the night, and jointly collected the prize on behalf of the club. Kevin said, “It was a genuine surprise when they announced our club as the winner, and a huge number of people offered us their congratulations.”

Club chairman John Rigby said , “We all felt that it was terrific to win the Lancashire Club of the Year award, but to win the North West Award has put the whole of the club on cloud nine. On behalf of everyone in the club, I would like to state that it really is brilliant to see the effort that our coaches, committee members and younger members have put in has been rewarded in this way.”

Alex Scoular, British Cycling’s Regional Coaching and Club Development Officer, said that, “It is very much deserved after all the hard work that the club have put in to developing cycling, not only in their locality but in the whole of Lancashire. Rain or shine the club are out there running coaching and racing for young people, and the sheer enthusiasm of the club’s coaches really does stand out. I very much look forward to working with the Ribble Valley Juniors in the future and helping them to develop their club further.”

British Cycling member Patrick Douglas, a mature student studying Sport & Exercise Science at York St John College, is looking for six guinea pigs to help him with research, specifically the effects of caffeine on 10 mile cycling time trial performance. You should be from the York or West/North Yorkshire area, aged from 18 and 65, be fit, healthy and exercise at least three times per week and should also have competed in at least two time trials during the current year (at least one being 10miles). You will be required to attend a lab on three occasions for tests on your own bicycle mounted on a Kingcycle (a device very similar to a turbo training machine). For more details, contact Patrick on patrick.douglas1@yorksj.ac.uk

Powerplaydirect.com have an exclusive service for British Cycling members – they offer over 1,000,000 top quality DVDs, CDs and Games at prices that simply cannot be beaten. You can get a chart Cd for just £8.99, a chart DVD from only £9.99 and Games start at £9.99 - all with FREE DELIVERY. To welcome British Cycling members to their site, Powerplaydirect are offering you an exclusive £1 off your first order, so get on to www.powerplaydirect.com and start getting even more from your British Cycling membership! They now have an exciting Christmas offer – find out more at GO THERE>>>

Wolverhampton Wheelers CC is hosting a talk on training for the Etape du Tour by exercise physiologist Dr Garry Palmer. Dr Palmer was featured in Cycling Weekly earlier this year when he helped Concorde CC rider Steve Timmins prepare for this year’s 148-mile race. Steve, who gained a silver medal, won a competition in the magazine to get one-to-one coaching and fitness testing. Dr Palmer, a former head of Wolverhampton University’s Human Performance Centre, runs his own company Sportstest Ltd. He has helped many elite cyclists, athletes and triathletes and currently his clients include Wolverhampton Wanderers football club where he monitors the players’ fitness and nutrition. Admission to the talk is £2.50 (£2 for Wheelers members). Admission includes entry into a raffle. The talk is in the Woodlands Suite, Aldersley Leisure Village, Hugh Porter Way, Aldersley, Wolverhampton, on Wednesday January 19, 2005, at 8pm. Call 01902 883 744 for more details.

Tickets were selling well at last weekend’s Revolution meeting for the Track World Cup event which comes to Manchester on January 7-9. To secure your ticket for the event this is the relevant Ticket Information

Adults: £18, £14, £10. Under 16: £9, £7, £5. Family Ticket (2 adults, 2 children): £45. 3-day Adult Season: £48

CC Sudbury (Suffolk) is running a Reliability Trial on 30^th January – the start will be at Great Cornard Sport Centre. Contact Colin Dales 01787 374581 for more details. If your club is running a Reliability Trial in the New Year, let us know – email paulwest@britishcycling.org.uk - and we’ll list it on our website.

For those who wish to avoid Christmas shopping, there are just a few places left for Prime Coaching's Calshot sessions on the 11th December and 18th December which start at 13.30 hrs

Contact Keith Wilmot on Kwilmot117@aol.com or phone 0208 813 5498 to secure your place now. The Newport open session at 3.45pm on 29th December is now FULL. Calshot sessions after Christmas are 8th January and 5th February. Contact Keith Wilmot on Kwilmot117@aol.com or phone 0208 813 5498 to secure your place now.

SHEFFIELD TAKE THE GREAT OUTDOORS INSIDE
Sheffield Dirt Society are planning to open WHEELBASE, Britain’s first permanent indoor BMX track and trails this Sunday. Check on www.dirtsociety.com for more details and check out the news story on our website, which has links to lots of pics of the track under construction –

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