2007 UCI Track Cycling World Championships - CM

Spain, March 29-April 1, 2007

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Women's points race

Bates wins points race

By Shane Stokes in Palma

Bouncing back from illness, Katherine Bates went two places better than her 2005 bronze medal when she won the women's points race on Sunday evening.

The Australian ended the 100 lap event with a total of 35 points, being one of four riders who succeeded in taking a lap and then making up the remaining 15 points with good sprinting. Mie Bekker Lacota (Denmark) was second, six points back, while Catherine Cheatley (New Zealand) was two points further adrift in the bronze medal position.

Defending champ Vera Carrara (Italy) was going for her third successive win but finished a disappointed seventh. The woman she beat to win her titles, former champion Olga Slyusareva (Russia), was also off form and finished back in 13th place, while pursuit winner Sarah Hammer (USA) was unsuccessful in her bid to take two gold medals, placing 14th.

Once racing was underway, Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso showed that the efforts of winning last night's scratch race hadn't blunted her speed, the Cuban taking the first and third sprints. Bates was second and third there, while Carrara got her title defence underway by winning the second sprint and later taking the eighth.

After Adrie Visser netted the fourth, Bates, Lactoa, Belem Guerrero Mendez (Mexico) and Cheatley went clear and crossed the next prime line in that order. They also picked up points ten laps later, with Cheatley taking the maximum this time. The quartet succeeded in gaining a lap on the bunch, scooping 20 points each, and with no other riders able to do likewise between that point and the finish, the medals were destined to be decided between them.

Charlotte Becker (Germany) took sprint seven, Cararra the eighth and Yan Li (China) the ninth. Bates added an additional two points to her haul en route to the finish, while her closest rivals Lactoa and Cheatley were only able to pick up one. Maria Luisa Calle Williams (Colombia) netted the tenth sprint, but by then Bates' total couldn't be beaten, making her the new world champion in the points race despite suffering a bad stomach complaint in recent days.

Results

1 Katherine Bates (Australia)                35 pts
2 Mie Bekker Lacota (Denmark)                29
3 Catherine Cheatley (New Zealand)           27
4 Belem Guerrero Mendez (Mexico)             23
5 Yumari Gonzalez Valdivieso (Cuba)          12
6 Adrie Visser (Netherlands)                 11
7 Vera Carrara (Italy)                       10
8 Charlotte Becker (Germany)                  9
9 Gina Grain (Canada)                         8
10 Yan Li (People's Republic of China)        7
11 Gema Pascual Torrecilla (Spain)            6
12 Maria Luisa Calle Williams (Colombia)      5
13 Olga Slyusareva (Russian Federation)       2
14 Sarah Hammer (United States Of America)    2
15 Pascale Schnider (Switzerland)             1
16 Eleftheria Maria Ellinikaki (Greece)        
17 Lada Kozlikova (Czech Republic)             
18 Cathy Moncassin Prime (France)              
DNF Elizaveta Bochkarova (Ukraine)