NEWTON IS CHAMPION

Newton finally took gold in the 40-kilometre points race which marked the end of the 2002 championships.

The Pinarello rider controlled the race from start to finish, winning eight of the 16 sprints and scoring in all but three of them as he amassed 49 points to beat Bryan Steel into second, 21 points behind.

The challenge of defending champion Tony Gibb faltered when he punctured with 72 laps remaining, while the race was split into two groups. He rejoined the leaders shortly after, but was told to drop back to the bunch and, having done so, could not reach the front runners and packed with 38 laps to go.

As he waited to collect his medal, Newton said: "I knew from the heats just how people were going, so I was fairly confident of what to expect.

"I was happy to stay in the pack, then go for a sprint, then recover for the next one. Once I'd won a few of the early sprints and opened up a 20-point gap, I just tried to hold that.

"Bryan [Steel] and I have just got that bit more endurance than most of the others, and I knew he was going well because we do a lot of training together on the road and with the national squad.

"The Commonwealth Games was my first points race for a long time, and I learned such a lot there. I've always had quite a good tactical awareness, and now that the legs are going well I've got the ability to put it all together."

1. Chris Newton (Pinarello, RT) 40km in 49-29.560, 49 pts
2. Bryan Steel (Team Chilwell) 28
3. Russell Downing (Lanes Travelwise) 21
4. H. Pritchard (Angliasport RT) 17
5. B. Hallam (DataPhonics RT) 14
6. T Buckle (SG Bollington) 9
7. M. Kelly (DataPhonics RT) 6
8. B. Taylor (VC Londres) 5
9. T White (VC Londres) 1
10. at 1 lap: J. Snodin (Melton Olympic) 1