Watson Lake native Zach Bell helped improve his chances of qualifying for the 2008 Olympic Games on Thursday after finishing seventh in the points race at the Sydney Track World Cup in Australia.

Bell, who is racing at the world cup with the Tim Hortons Canadian National team, earned 11 points in the 12 sprint event and has so far this year nearly doubled the amount of total points that he accumulated in 2006-7.

Bell also recorded his best finish to date at a world cup event one day later. He won the silver medal in the scratch race, which doesn't award any points for Olympic qualification.

In an interview over MSN at his parents' home in Whitehorse, Bell talked about both performances at the first world cup of the season.

'I knew going in I had the tools to perform in both the points and the scratch race,' he said. 'I knew if I rode the scratch race well I had a good chance of making a top five, but you never know with group races, there is so much out of your control. Sometimes you just have to lay it out there and hope things fall the way you want them to. I knew if they did I would have a good chance of getting on the podium.'

Ever since Bell was young he has enjoyed cycling, but a back injury while wrestling at the University of Calgary would prove to be the catalyst for his eventual career in the sport.

Initially his reasons for riding after the injury were just so he could stay in shape for the wrestling team, but Bell soon discovered how much he enjoyed the sport. This enjoyment for cycling led him to compete in a few local races in Whitehorse, and when Bell went back to Calgary in 2002, he got involved in the recreational program at the National Cycling Centre.

Bell's potential was discovered immediately and it didn't take him long to move from a category four cyclist to a category two, which meant he was eligible to race against the professionals. At his very first professional road cycling race as a category two, the Tour de Delta Hill Climb in B.C., in 2003, he not only won the event, but set a new time record in doing so.

Bell would eventually compete in track cycling races as well. This year alone, he has had a personal record number of first place finishes in both road and track cycling.

At the scratch race, Bell dominated from the beginning and led the race right up until the final 10 laps when he dropped back to second behind Germany's Roger Kluge. With two laps to go Bell made one final push, driving hard to the outside lane, but just missed finishing first by no more than an inch.

Bell said this was one of his best races so far in the cycling season.

'Second place at a world cup that is pretty big, the only thing bigger is the world championships and the Olympics,' he said. 'For me personally, it is in the same category as many of my other big achievements. Winning the nationals when I did was huge and a big achievement for the amount of work I had done. This is big too, but they are all important results because of when they happen. The day before I had the points race and that helped a fair amount.'

Bell's next race is on Friday in the second World Cup circuit of the year, which is being held in Beijing, China. He will be competing in another points race, which could go a long way to achieving his goal of qualifying for the Olympics. He is more confident going into Friday's race because of his high finish in the scratch race.

'I raced the scratch race much better and looking back on the points race last weekend, I think if I would have raced it more like I raced the scratch I would have had a similar result,' Bell said. 'It all just gives me more faith in my ability and more confidence to race my own race.'

Bell hopes to finish in the top eight in the world cup points race.

'This would really put me in good shape for the Olympics,' he said. 'I believe I am capable of fifth, if I ride to my best. I would be satisfied with the top eight, but I may take a few risks to get into the top five.'

Bell will know for sure if he qualifies for the Olympics in March after the conclusion of the Track Cycling World Championship, which is being held in Manchester, England.