Editing Points race (section)

==Description ==
The races are run over 40&nbsp;km for men and 25&nbsp;km for women in UCI championships. A sprint is held every ten laps, with 5, 3, 2, and 1 point(s) being awarded to the top four finishers in each sprint. The winner of the race is the one to have the most points at the end of the race. In addition to the sprints, any riders managing to lap the main field are awarded an extra 20 points.<ref name="BRI"/> This is therefore a popular way of gaining the points required to win the race and leads to many such attempts to gain a lap during the race.

Different tactics can be employed to win the race. Some riders may sit back in the main bunch conserving energy, only attacking for the sprints to gain points. Other riders may attempt to gain the lead early on in the race and try to defend the advantage. The most common breakaways seen in the points race are groups of two to five riders, sharing the work to enable them to gain a lap. Although it is a difficult feat to gain the lap on your own, it is not uncommon for the top riders to be able to do this in order to win the race.

At the Olympic Games and World Championships qualification is determined by performance at the World Cup Classics events throughout the season. At the World Cup Classics meetings two heats usually take place to decide qualification for the final. These are commonly half the race distance of the final.