Paul eliminated in men’s sprint round of 16

THE TT duo of Nicholas Paul and Njisane Phillip was eliminated in the round of 16 and round of 24 respectively, in the individual men’s sprint event in round three of the 2018/2019 UCI (International Cycling Union) Track Cycling World Cup at the Berlin Velodrome in Berlin, Germany, yesterday.

In the qualifying stage, Paul finished sixth among the 40 cyclists with a time of 9.765 seconds. Phillip also advanced to the round of 24 after finishing 18th with a time of 9.874. The top four cyclists advanced directly to the round of 16 and the cyclists ranked fifth to 28th after the qualifying round advanced to the round of 24. There was little separating the 40 cyclists in the qualifying stage, as Mateusz Rudyk of Poland ended first in 9.584 and Brazilian Kacio Freitas was 40th in 10.243.

In the round of 24, Paul advanced to the round of 16 after clocking 10.256 to defeat Rafal Sarnecki of Poland in heat two. Phillip did not advance, losing to Joseph Truman of Great Britain who won heat 11 in 10.258.

Paul’s run in the competition came to an end in the round of 16 when he lost to Russian Dmitriev Denis. Denis won heat six in 10.410. Australian Matthew Glaetzer went on to win gold after defeating Matthijs Buchli (Netherlands/Beat Cycling Club) in the gold medal race. Rayan Helal of France ended third when he got past Rudyk in the bronze medal event.

The TT cyclists will now focus on round four of the Cycling World Cup which takes place in London, England from December 14 to 16. Cyclists compete in the World Cup events in an effort to earn qualification points towards the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.