PRIOR to defending her world titles later this month, Abergavenny speedster Becky James warmed up for the main event in Columbia by securing a couple of podium positions in Round four of the Revolution series in Manchester.

The sprint star cyclist finished third in the individual sprint behind Jess Varnish and Vicky Williamson before going on to win the keirin event.

Taking to Twitter to express her delight the next morning, the lycra lightning bolt tweeted, "Had a great time racing at the Revolution Uk last night! Great crowds and atmosphere, I hope everyone enjoyed it."

James has expressed how eager she is to defend her titles from last year and has been putting in the hard yards in the gym and on the track to ensure she's in tip top shape for the Cali showdown.

When not committing herself to a punishing training routine and the endless grind of the modern athlete, James has recently revealed how she has become obsessed with baking cakes and wrote in her blog for the Daily Mail, "I have been keeping up with my baking. I'm obsessed with making my carrot and walnut cake. It's been going down well at the track. I'm a feeder. I'm not going to give away my recipe! It's got a nice cream cheese topping."

In the wake of the world championships, James will be back in Wales and sitting in the WAGs section of the Millennium Stadium, watching her boyfriend George North play in the last two matches of Wales's Six Nations campaign as the boys in red lock horns with England and Scotland in the hope of winning the championship and securing that all elusive hat-trick.

Yet all that's but a promise on the breeze, first up for James is a little business to take care of in Columbia which wheels into action on February 26.

James who has only been to Cali once before, admitted that she's trying to get into the same mind-set as last year and do her best on the big stage.

The two-wheeled whirlwind wrote in the Daily Mail, "Cali is usually a very hot and a pretty fast track. The velodrome is open around the sides so you have the wind to think about as well. I heard they would put curtains up but I don't know if they will. We'll see when we get there.

"It would be better. If it is a timed event like the 500 and you get a massive gust, then somebody else doesn't have any wind it will affect the times, so it's not exactly a fair competition. I have no idea why they built it like that!

"It's slightly at altitude so a little bit harder but you get used to the climate pretty quickly, after a few track sessions."

Yet with all the hard work still to do, James is currently doing her best to relax in the build-up by baking cakes and watching TV.

The speed queen revealed, "I'm watching 'Girls' with Jess Varnish at the moment. We watched the first two series so we're catching up on the new one."