Nicholas Paul recovering after Nations Cup crash, eyes Colombia leg

Ace cyclist Nicholas Paul is comfortably recovering from his recent spill on the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome track in Glasgow, Scotland.

Paul suffered a broken collarbone after he lost control of his bike and crashed in the men’s sprint semi-final at the Tissot International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Nations Cup last month.

Although he won the opening ride against Australian Matthew Richardson, Paul’s crash in the second race forced him to sit out the rest and settle for fourth place overall.

“The recovery process is coming along great so far. Two weeks have already gone so it’s been good. I’ve been doing physiotherapy and I’m healing faster than I expected.

“I’m also surrounded by world-class personnel at the World Cycling Centre (WCC) here, so I’m in good hands,” he said from his Aigle, Switzerland base.

Paul confirmed he has not yet resumed track training. He is doing some light gym work and putting in the miles on a stationary bike to stay fit and ready to go when he fully recovers.

Looking back on the semi-final race, the flying 200m world record holder (9.1 seconds) said it was a learning experience.

“No one wants to crash, but it happened so quickly I couldn’t tell what was wrong. But from watching the video footage after, I could pinpoint different things.

"So it’s just to change up or tweak my mistake and learn from it.

“Tactically and physically I was feeling good, but things happen. You just have to move on with it.”

Before the crash, Paul (9.553s) advanced out of the opening flying 200m qualification round as the second-fastest sprint cyclist. The fastest qualifying cyclist, Harrie Lavreysen (9.433s) of the Netherlands, went on to win gold.

Paul then defeated Poland’s Rafal Sarnecki in the 1/8 final, Swiss World Cycling Centre training partner Jair Tjon En Fa (Suriname) in the quarter-final and then went one-up against Matthews in the semis before his fall.

His powerful performances in the earlier rounds, he said, were testament to his intense but rewarding training regime under WCC coach Craig MacLean.

Although still on the mend, Paul has already set his sights on the upcoming UCI Nations Cup leg in Cali, Colombia from July 7-10 and Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, UK from July 28- August 8.

“I just want to fully recover as fast and best as possible to be back on the bike to be able to race in Cali and the Commonwealth Games. I’m confident I would be fully recovered by then.”