Nicholas Paul crashes out Nations Cup sprint semi

Nicholas Paul lost control of his bike and crashed out of the men’s sprint semi-final at the Tissot International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Nations Cup in Glasgow, Scotland on Sunday.

Up against Australian Matthew Richardson in race two, Paul was ahead of his opponent and used the flat infield and sloping track to maintain a slim lead.

However, while pedaling from the infield onto the slope, the TT cyclist attempted to make another quick switch but lost control and crashed onto the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome track. In the process, he blocked Richardson’s pathway and the Australian also tumbled off his bike.

Even though he won the first race, Paul was unable to continue, which resulted in Richardson automatically advancing to the final. If Paul had won that second race, he would have progressed to the gold medal ride against Dutch speedster Harrie Lavreysen.

Paul is currently seeking medical attention and said he is “unsure” of how serious his injuries, if any, are.

Prior to his fall, the flying 200m (9.1 seconds) world record holder advanced out of the opening sprint qualifying round with the second fastest time (9.553s). He finished behind Lavreysen (9.433s) and ahead of England’s Jack Carlin (9.609s).

These top-three automatically moved on to the 1/8 finals.

In the opening round however, TT’s Kwesi Browne clocked the 31st fastest time of 10.169s and was eliminated from the sprint.

In the the 1/8 finals, Paul made light work of Poland’s Rafal Sarnecki and then conquered his Swiss World Cycling Centre training partner Jair Tjon En Fa (Suriname) in the quarter-final round.

But after defeating Richardson in the opening semi-final race, the crash ruled him out of medal contention at the last hurdle.

On Saturday, Paul and compatriot Kwesi Browne were unable to finish among the top 12 cyclists of the men’s keirin. In the opening heats, Browne placed fourth while Paul did not finish his race.

The pair was then forced to vie for a spot in the second round by contesting the first round repechage. With only the winners advancing, both Paul and Browne placed third and bowed out of keirin contention.

Meanwhile, endurance rider Akil Campbell was also supposed to feature in the men’s elimination and omnium event but was unable to do so owing to visa issues.

The next UCI Nations Cup pedals off in Milton, Canada from May 12-15.