Nicholas Paul resumes Champions League series on November 29

Trinidad and Tobago cyclist Nicholas Paul resumes his UCI Track Champions League campaign with two legs riding off at Omnisport Apeldoorn in the Netherlands on November 29 and 30.

Paul, 26, will contest a full sprint and keirin event on each day as he continues to accumulate points for a top-flight finish across the five-leg series.

At the first leg in Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France, on November 23, Paul placed third in the sprint and fifth in the keirin and finished third (26 pts) on the men’s sprint overall standings after round one.

Ahead of him heading into the second and third legs are England’s three-time Paris Olympic medallist Matthew Richardson (40 pts) and Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen (34 pts), reigning Olympic, UCI World and European Championships sprint champion.

Richardson was unbeatable as he won both the sprint and keirin with Lavreysen taking runner-up on both occasions.

In October, Paul fell agonizingly short of his third UCI Track World Championships medal after placing fourth in the sprint. He remains intent on an improved performance at the Champions League to close off his 2024 campaign on a high after a tough Olympic stint in Paris in August.

The last two legs ride off in Lee Valley Velopark, England, on December 6 and 7.

For the Champions League, every leg features the same race programme with sprinters contesting sprint and keirin events and endurance racers competing in elimination and scratch races.

Cyclists score points across all five rounds and at the end, four winners (two men, two women) will be crowned.