Comonwealth Games: Aussies dominate women’s points race
Australia scored another 1-2 in the women's points race at the Commonwealth games in Manchester, England, Tuesday with Kathy Bates and Rochelle Gilmour winning gold and silver. Canada's Clara Hughes took the bronze medal. Hughes initiated a break approximately 20 laps into the race, and was joined by Bates, Nicole Cooke (Wales) and Frances Newstead (England). The foursome lapped the field to gain ten points each, but Bates and her teammates proved to be dominant in the sprints, with the winner figuring in almost every one. With 20 laps to go, the race for gold was essentially over, but
New record in men’s sprint qualifier
By Rob Jones, VeloNews correspondent
Australia scored another 1-2 in the women’s points race at the Commonwealth games in Manchester, England, Tuesday with Kathy Bates and Rochelle Gilmour winning gold and silver. Canada’s Clara Hughes took the bronze medal.
Hughes initiated a break approximately 20 laps into the race, and was joined by Bates, Nicole Cooke (Wales) and Frances Newstead (England).
The foursome lapped the field to gain ten points each, but Bates and her teammates proved to be dominant in the sprints, with the winner figuring in almost every one.
With 20 laps to go, the race for gold was essentially over, but Gilmour, Hughes and Sarah Ulmer (New Zealand) were still battling until the last sprint to decide which among them would get silver and bronze.
The men’s sprint started in the morning season, with Sean Eadie (Australia) setting a new track and Commonwealth record for the Flying 200m time trial – 10.145 seconds. Only one thousandth of a second behind was Jamie Staff of England, the bronze medalist in the Kilo.
In the first and second rounds of the sprint there were no real surprises, with all the top riders making it through to the quarterfinals.
Results
Women’s Points race
1. Katherine Bates (Australia) 37pts
2. Rochelle Gilmore (Australia) 23
3.Clara Hughes (Canada) 20
4. Alison Wright(Australia) 17
5. Sarah Ulmer (New Zealand) 16
6. Nicole Cooke (Wales) 14
7. Frances Newstead (England) 14
8. Melanie Szubrycht (England) 4
9. Erin Carter (Canada) 3
10. Hsu Min Chung (Malaysia) 0
11. Rachel Heal (England) 0
12. Joanne Cavill(Scotland) 0
Fiona Carswell (New Zealand) DNF