Newton takes grip on World Cup title

OLDHAM-based cycling ace Chris Newton won gold and silver at the latest round of the Track World Cup series in China to strengthen his bid for the overall series.

Newton, who won a bronze medal at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing last year, returned to the scene of that performance last weekend as he continued his bid for the Points Race crown in the fourth of five races which make up the World Cup Series.

He won that event in convincing style, and then went on to finish second in the scratch race the following day to leave himself in the driving seat ahead of the final round in Denmark next month.

Newton won his heat of the 15-kilometre points race with 13 points from the six sprints, beating Ukrainian Rybin Volodymyr by three points.

In the final of the event, he was in commanding form, taking 35 points to beat his nearest rival, Zachary Bell of Canada, by 15 points, while Poland’s Rafal Ratajczyk was third, one point further back.

That result leaves Newton top of the overall leaderboard following his victory in the same event in the opening round of the series at Manchester back in November.

He is six points ahead of Australia’s Glenn O’Shea, and looks likely to secure the overall title with victory in the final round in Copenhagen from February 13-15.

The day after his points race win, in-form Newton took silver in the scratch race, narrowly behind winner Hayden Godfrey of New Zealand.