Nicholas Paul sprints to Nations Cup gold

Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Nicholas Paul copped gold in a dominant performance in the men's sprint event at the International Cycling Union (UCI) Track Nations Cup in Milton, Canada on Sunday.

On Saturday, Paul, who recently returned from a broken collar bone, earned bronze in the men's keirin.

Paul won the sprint final in consecutive rides against Polish cyclist Mateusz Rudyk. In the first race, Rudyk made his move with one lap remaining sprinting to the front, but Paul demonstrated his blistering speed passing Rudyk with 30 metres left to win easily.

Race two had a similar pattern with Rudyk trying to sprint away from Paul. On this occasion, Rudyk made his move with 1 1/2 laps to go, but again he could not hold off the Flying 200 world record holder. The cyclists were neck and neck heading into the final stretch, but Paul outsprinted Rudyk to win by half a bicycle and seal the crown.

President of the TT Cycling Federation Rowena Williams was delighted with Paul's performance, especially as the TT cyclist only recently recovered from injuries to his collarbone and ribs. Paul injured himself while training in October 2022.

"I think it is a great performance," Williams said. "I've always known that Nicholas's performance will return...It was just a pleasure seeing him win that gold and really helping him boost his confidence getting ready for World Championships. I think it was important at this particular time for him to win that gold and really boost his confidence on the bike having such a serious incident."

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will be held in Glasgow, Scotland in August.

In the semi-finals, Paul defeated Australian rider Matthew Richardson in two rides to qualify for the final. In the first race, Paul made his move and Richardson did not have the legs to catch him. In race two, Richardson made an early move but he could not hang on as Paul passed him on the final stretch to seal a place in the final.

Paul delivered a blistering performance in the qualifying phase with the fastest time among the 37 starters. Paul clocked 9.575 seconds and was one of four riders to earn a first round bye (1/16 final) and advance straight to the second round (1/8 final). TT cyclist Kwesi Browne finished 24th in 9.980 and was one of 24 cyclists to progress to the 1/16 finals.

Browne was eliminated in the 1/16 finals as he lost to Chinese cyclist Yu Zhou in heat five.

In the 1/8 final, Paul booked a place in the quarter-finals with a victory over Italian Mattia Predomo in heat one and later sealed a spot in the semi-finals with a win over Zhou.

Paul won the first two races in heat one against Zhou to progress to the final four.

In heat two, Muhammad Sahrom of Malaysia defeated Canadian Nick Wammes to qualify for the semi-finals and in heat three Rudyk defeated Qi Liu of China. Also sealing a place in the semi-finals was Richardson who got past German Maximilian Dornbach. All the quarter-final winners won in two rides.

Alexi Ramirez competed in the women's omnium event for TT. Ramirez, competing in heat two of qualification, did not finish the race.

Williams commended Browne and Ramirez for their effort as the cyclists are continuing to gain points to qualify for international events.