Nicholas Paul third in sprints after first Champions League leg

Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Nicholas Paul concluded the first leg of the UCI Track Champions League in third place on the men’s sprint overall standings after competing in two events at the Velodrome National de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines in France on November 23.

Paul finished third in the sprint and fifth in the keirin events in the opening round of the 2024 series.

England’s three-time Paris Olympic medallist Matthew Richardson topped the sprint field in the final ahead of Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen, reigning Olympic, UCI World and European Championships sprint champion.

Both cyclists proved a cut above the rest as they also notched the one-two finish in the keirin. Colombia’s Kevin Quintero and Cristian Ortega were third and fourth respectively with Paul coming in fifth.

Legs two and three of the Champions League pedal to the Omnisport Apeldoorn in the Netherlands on November 29 and 30, with the final two set for December 6 in Lee Valley Velopark in England.

The UCI Champions League runs as a league format with every round featuring the same race programme. Riders compete in sprint or endurance categories and score points across all five rounds.

Each category has two different types of races in which competitors can accumulate points; sprinters race in both sprint and keirin while endurance riders race both elimination and scratch.

Eighteen riders can compete in each category, meaning 72 riders will compete in total (36 men and 36 women).

At the end of the five stages, four champions will be awarded; two men and two women in each category.