World Track Championships 2007

Palma, Majorca, Spain

WCN quicklink >>  Day 1 - Team Sprint Qualifying     Team Sprint Final    Qualifying Photos    Finals Photos

                              Day 2 - Sprint Qualifying        Pursuit qualifying and final     Photos

                              Day 3 -  500m TT     Scratch Race   Sprint Final     Photos

                              Day 4 -  Points Race    Keirin Finals     Photos

Day 4

Points Race

Race Writeup

Kate Bates (Australia) finally achieved her goal of a World Championship jersey in the Points race. She rode a tactical race and was part of the race winning break created by Catherine Cheately (New Zealand) that meant Bates just had to keep out of trouble and secure a few of the extra points on offer to win gold.

The first to start the attacks was Vera Carrara (Italy) but her past form in this event secured that fact that she was closely marked and she could not get away. At the first sprint point, it was the Cuban, Gonzalez who took the first points. Bates was tight on her wheel to secure 3 points. Gina Grain (Canada) took the 2 points and much to the crowds delight Gema Pascual Torrecilla (Spain) jumped for 1 point. With 83 laps to go the bunch were riding tight on the bends. As the next sprint point came it was Carrara that attacked again, she secured 5 points. Danish rider Mie Bekker Lacota got second and 3 points, Andrie Visser (Netherlands) squeezed in for third and 2 points and former World Champion Olga Slyusareva (Russia) got the last point on offer.

Immediately Pascale Schnider (SUI) attacked but it was not successful, Slyusareva closed this down quickly. As the third sprint point approached, it was the Cuban who attacked and took the 5 point, Bates secured 2. Cheatley attacked again, this time Torrecilla closed the gap bring the field with her.

In true Dutch style Visser attacked, this time the Spanish crowd went wild as Torrecilla went with her. The two managed to gain half a lap and managed to hold this lead right through to the next sprint point. By 59 laps to go, the bunch were back together. It did not last however as Belem Guerrero Mendez (Mexico) attacked. She quickly gained half a lap, but it was Catherine Cheatley again who attacked to cover the gap. This proved to be the decisive move of the race as she took Bates and Lacota with her. The four worked well together and by 35 laps to go they had taken the race wining lap.

The front of the bunch reacted, the Cuban attacked again and the bunch was completely strung out. No other break managed to succeed as the bunch completed the final laps.  With 14 to go a crash involving Schnider, who pulled her foot, Guerrero Mendez (Mexico) and Elizaveta Bochkarova (Ukraine) occurred. All involved were okay and able to get back on their bikes.

As the final 6 laps ticked away, Charlotte Becker (Germany) tried to get away, she was marked by the Columbian Maria Luisa Calle Williams and Gina Grain (Canada). With two to go the Columbian moved to the front again with Becker. The two gained a small gap on the chasers, Torrecilla and Visser. This is the order they crossed the finish line.

Bates won with 35 points, Locota was second with 29 points and Catherine Cheately finished third with 27 points.

WCN caught up with Gina Grain (Canada) while she was preparing for the Points race. Having achieved a silver medal in the scratch race in 2006, Grain has high hopes for herself in the points race. “I am stoked to be here. We have been training really hard for it [the points race]. I switched my whole focus and dedication to the points race. My new coach Richard Wooles and Bicycling Canada are working together on my programme. Richard has been coaching me since November, he is in Vancouver and has a good track and endurance background. So he has put a lot of time into helping me with my training. We have done a lot of technical work and I have had a lot more track time this year. It’s been great going into an event like this, knowing that you have been able to totally focus on it, and put all the resources that you have, into making it a success. It’s a good feeling coming here, knowing that you have done everything you done everything you possibly can to be in top condition.”

Asked how you keep track during the event on your own points and position and that of your competitor, Grain added, “you pretty much know who to watch for, it’s a small tight community, less riders, you know who they are and you know who to watch. It is so similar to road racing in that way. In the worlds, though you have to go out and ride your own race. If you race someone else’s game, it’s not going to work for you, you have to race your own. I will keep an eye on the scoreboard and the key people.”

After these World Championships, Grain joins her new team ExpressCopy.com. “They have put a great programme together. It doesn’t have up racing all the time but they have picked key races to help qualify Canada for the Olympics for the road and they are fully supportive of my track endeavours as well so having that support behind me has been great and it really works. We are focused on the USA races and the later European ones. We are trying to play it smart with budget and maximize UCI points.”

Kate Bates (Australia) rode a tactically perfect race and deserved to win World Championship jersey. “I really can’t believe it, I’m so excited. I was sick a couple of days ago. So I had no expectations of how I would go. My partner Richard [England] and I worked really hard on tactics. I could not have done this without the help and support of Gary Sutton and everyone around me. I have amazing support and a new fitness coach Petra [Rosner], she has got me in the best form of my life. A combination of those three people, have got me here. I can’t believe it’s amazing. I still can’t believe I am getting  a stripey jersey,” said an ecstatic Bates.

Bates is shoe mad and was excited about the prospect of buying a pair of Manola Blahnik shoes, a reward she promised herself if she ever won a World title. “I promised myself a pair of Manola’s. I am going to the US in a few weeks so I will wait until then, they have a better selection, I ’ve earned them because I’ve never worked this hard before and I just can’t believe it’s paid off,” added Bates.

Bates wore a gold stiletto pendant around her neck during the race. “My Auntie bought it for me and said ‘one day you’ll get the stripes honey but this is for you in the meantime’. I only wear it when I feel good because I didn’t want to curse it and today I had a feeling and AAAAAHHHH, I am just so excited.”

This victory was even more special given that Bates had been ill just before the pursuit, having fallen victim to the bug that had swept through the Australian team, Bates delivered a very under par performance. Bates added, “I rested and I ate a lot of what I had lost in the day, in a way it took the pressure off me it could be looked at as a bit of bad luck had I not ridden well. To get this gold just shows that if you are determined enough you can do anything. It hurt my pride after being so fit and knowing that you could do something special and then underperforming but it also spurred me on.”

Bates heads up to Northern Europe to join her pro team T-Mobile. “They helped me get here, I want to be standing on the same spot on the podium in the Olympic games next year. I can’t afford to drop anything, so it’s onwards and upwards from here. I still can’t believe I have won”

Talking about the race, Bates added, “I have had some mixed results over the last few years and I think that helped me today. People took less notice of me and that worked to my advantage. It was anyone’s race today. The women are a little bit guilty of looking at each other, me included. Once we were away, I wanted to get as many points as possible in case we didn’t take the lap. I also knew that the Danish rider was faster than Catherine Cheatley, so that worked well. The Danish rider is still so young and so talented. I think that experience is what won it for me today.”

After the ceremony, Bates was asked how she was going to celebrate. “I do not know, really I don’t know. When I was warming up I was having visions of what am I going to do if I win. I knew how hard I have worked and I deserved it. I thought what am I going to do? I really thought that I would be in tears and there were a few there for a minute. There is no way this has sunk in yet, I keep looking down and seeing this jersey and medal. I think when I see photos it will sink it a little bit more. I won’t come down for a while.”

Mie Bekker Lacota (Denmark) was very happy with her Silver medal. “It was a tough race but it was good. When we got away, I thought, ‘we can do this’. The peloton was unorganised and this allowed us to get the lap. This is huge for me, I am first year senior, I didn’t expect this, it is a dream come true. Next time I hope it’s the gold medal.”

Catherine Cheatley (New Zealand) had shown some good form in the recent Tour of New Zealand and came into these championships in great form. “I am blown away with this [talking about her Bronze medal]. I knew I had good form coming in today and when we got the lap I thought ‘oh my god this could happen’. This is just fantastic." Cheately was asked if she thought she had a chance of a medal once Kate [Bates] joined her attack she added, “Yes, I knew that she was strong, also the Danish girl was strong too. We worked really hard together, we got half a lap and then it started to come back. We just drove harder and we took the lap. It’s amazing, I am so happy.”