Cycling ace Teniel Campbell shifts focus to road racing

FRESH off a gutsy gold medal performance at the Pan American Track Cycling Championships, Trinidad and Tobago’s Teniel Campbell is shifting gears as she sets sights on another major milestone — the Pan American Road Championships.

The multi-discipline cyclist lines up alongside teammate Jadian Neaves for the regional event which pedals off in Uruguay, from April 23-27.

Campbell won women’s points race gold and elimination race bronze at the just concluded Pan Am track champs and is ready to return to the road in pursuit of more regional honours.

Her performances at the track event earned her qualification for the World Track Championships in Chile — a major goal for the back end of the season. She’s also eyeing the World Road Championships, with both events aligning with a renewed focus on time trials.

Speaking at a welcome back and congratulations ceremony at the National Cycling Velodrome on April 14, Campbell shed light on some of her plans.

“These are big targets,” Campbell said. “Time trial on the road alongside time trial in track — that is a big plan that we had in mind with my coach. Then we’ll see what happens in June, what opportunities open up to go back out in Europe.”

With her eyes firmly set on the podiums ahead, the journey is far from over, and she’s ready to push the pace.

On her return to track competition after a lengthy hiatus, Campbell said she had to recalibrate mentally and physically to adapt to the increased intensity of the competition.

“I went in open-minded because I did not know the competition. By my first race, I could tell the Pan American level increased a lot from my last track competition. It reaffirmed my mental tenacity... you have to eliminate the distractions and focus on your task at hand.”

That mental toughness came to the fore during her gold medal ride in the points race, in what she described as a bold, “calculated risk that paid off.”

“I knew it was a big risk, but I take chances. I had to make a decision: do I do or die, do I gamble? I prefer to ride for gold than settle for bronze — that’s just the person I am.”

With her sprinting legs not matching up to her rivals’, Campbell turned to her road cycling strengths — sustained power and relentless pressure.

“After the first couple of sprints, I realised I can’t sprint with these girls... so I just kept working it and kept the pressure on. It worked out in my favour.”

The gold medal ride took all that was left in her tank and Campbell had to be assisted off the track by TT mechanic Kevin Tinto.

Now, her attention turns to the road, but the track remains a key part of her long-term strategy.

The Pan Am team of Nicholas Paul, Njisane Phillip, Ryan Dabreau, Campbell and sibling Akil Campbell, Makaira Wallace, Phoebe Sandy, Alexi Ramirez and Tariq Woods returned home last week after finishing second overall, bagging five medals—three gold, one silver and one bronze.

TT Cycling Federation president Rowena Williams said each rider made an important contribution to the team’s overall effort. She singled out road racing specialist Campbell for a winning return to the track, as well as first-time senior sprinter Ryan Dabreau, who teamed up with Phillip and Paul to claim team sprint gold.

“Teniel) said I’m a winner, I want to get back on the track and she did,” Williams said. “She excelled and she came back with a gold and a bronze. Congratulations to you, Teniel. Akil, no stranger to the Pan Am Elite road, I know you did not medal this Pan Am but your performance was still outstanding and we want to congratulate you on an excellent performance throughout the whole period.”

D’Abreau, on his first senior team experience, said he was a bit anxious to compete but was given reassurances by his experienced pair of teammates.

Ian Cole, TT’s Pan Am track team manager, was pleased with the overall efforts of the team, even those who did not win medals.

“The times that we did were on par with any of the other efforts that we would have done even a few years ago when we had Njisane (and they) competing for the Olympic spots. So, I feel very heartened about that because it shows that our sprint team could actually rank with the best in the world at this point in time, even though we are just starting this new phase, basically. I was very pleased with all of the cyclists.”

On Teniel’s showing, Cole added, “She did tell me that she wanted her jersey (winner), and that was her reason for competing in two very hard events (points race and elimination) at almost the same time, basically.”