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T&T’s ace cyclist Nicholas Paul finished fourth in the men’s sprint when the UCI Track Cycling World Championships concluded yesterday, in Santiago, Chile. Paul went down to Australia’s Leigh Hoffman in straight rides in the bronze medal ride-off. Earlier, Paul was up against it in the second semi-final when he faced multiple world and Olympic champion, Netherlands’ Harrie Lavreysen, the “Flying Dutchman.” Lavreysen easily dispatched Paul’s challenge in consecutive rides, advancing to the gold medal race against flying 200m world record-holder Great Britain’s Matthew Richardson, who also was defeated in straight rides. Against Paul in the semis, Lavreysen first won by a margin of 0.056 seconds and then sealed the deal with a 0.050-second victory, ending Paul’s dream of a world title. This set up a final chance for redemption for Paul in the bronze medal race against Hoffman, who took the first race by a significant +0.356 seconds. And despite a fierce effort from the T&T star, the Australian sealed the bronze by an even larger margin of +0.721 in the second race. Meanwhile, 19-time world champion Lavreysen reaffirmed his status as the king of track sprinting, claiming gold and another title by defeating Richardson in the final. Lavreysen had earlier won the men’s keirin and kilometre time trial individual titles. Elsewhere, Trinidad and Tobago’s other riders produced a mixture of national bests and learning experiences. Teniel Campbell completed the women’s points race on the final day, but did not feature among the leading scorers. The tactical, tightly-contested race saw points taken early and often by breakaway riders and the top-ranked endurance specialists. Teniel finished the event having gained valuable experience but outside the placings that decided medals. In the men’s elimination race, Teniel’s brother Akil Campbell placed 16th of 24. The elimination test proved demanding in a deep field, and Akil will take the lessons from the race into his forthcoming programme. In the women’s keirin, T&T’s rising star Makaira Wallace rode in heat two of first round, finishing fourth behind Lea Friedrich and therefore moving into the repechage rather than progressing directly to the quarter-finals. Under the keirin progression rules, the top two in each opening heat advance automatically, with remaining riders given a second chance via the repechages. Wallace contested repechage heat three but in placing fifth, finishing outside the qualifying positions, and thus did not advance to the quarter-finals stage. That outcome concluded her programme at these World Championships. The experience however can prove valuable to Wallace’s transition from junior to senior level competition. She is the first female sprint cyclist to represent T&Tobago at this level, and her efforts should provide a performance baseline the national federation can build on.
