Top cyclist Nicholas Paul 'still chasing World Championships stripes'

CYCLIST Nicholas Paul wants to become a world champion.

Despite him being Trinidad and Tobago’s most achieved cyclist at the World Track Cycling Championships, with two silver medals, Paul wants more.

His runner-up finishes in the 1km time trial in 2021 and sprints in 2023 saw him surpass the accolades of former TT cyclists Roger Gibbon and Gene “Geronimo” Samuel, who each earned a medal at World Champs.

Paul is the only TT cyclist to have captured two at this level. However, he remains fixated on climbing to the top of the rostrum.

A golden finish for any cyclist at Worlds earns them a distinctive rainbow jersey (world champion), which must be worn when competing in the same discipline, category and specialty for which the title was won, over the next year.

For 2025, Paul is focused on two main events — Pan American Track Cycling Championships (April 1-6) in Paraguay and World Champs (October 22-26) in Chile.

For Pan Am, he will be defending his elite men's sprint and keirin titles for a third consecutive year. But, it’s that golden World Champs finish, he remains in hot pursuit of.

“Worlds is one of the biggest events after the Olympic Games. I always want to go out there and put my best foot forward. I’m still chasing the World Championships stripes. I want to be able to wear the rainbow jersey, so that’s one of my goals always. When I go out there every year it’s to try to win the rainbow jersey. It’s always my main goal,” he said from his UCI World Cycling Centre base in Switzerland.

It’s easier said than done, Paul confirmed.

Currently, the Gasparillo native is ranked fifth on the UCI’s individual men's elite sprint ranking with Dutch speedster and five-time Olympic gold medallist Harrie Lavreysen in pole position.

Between them are three equally intent speedsters — Mateusz Rudyk (Poland), Mikhail Yakovlev (Israel) and Cristian Ortega Fontalvo (Colombia) — from second to fourth respectively.

Well aware of the competitive threat they pose to his goal, Paul said he must keep working.

“There are a lot of countries who are really high in the sprints. The Dutch, French, Englishmen; those guys are really great cyclists. But at the same time, I think I have developed myself to be one of the top cyclists as well so it’s just to go out there and execute good racing.

“Because on any given day, you could get any rider (to race against) so you have to be able to race against all of them as they get placed in front of you. That’s why it’s important to be as fast and as tactical as possible.”

When asked what would it mean for him to become a world champion in the sprint or keirin events, Paul said it’s one of his biggest dreams.

“Every year I have to keep putting in the hard work and go out there and try to achieve it. Nothing good comes easily. You have to put in the work to achieve what you want. I hope to achieve success at Worlds and Olympics whenever it comes. I’ve been chasing it and I have to keep at it trying to get it done.”

Training, he said, continues to be world-class at the World Cycling Centre in Aigle. Under the expert guidance of coach Craig MacLean there, Paul is in good hands on his quest for glory.

“Work has been going great. Craig is one of the top coaches as well. It’s great to be able to work with him and be at the UCI Cycling Centre. The facilities and programmes there are really good so to be able to be there and be in an environment that I focus on cycling 100 per cent is just great.”

UCI will host just one Nations Cup this year, from March 14-16 in Turkey. Paul has opted out of this event to place full focus on the Pan Am Champs in early April.