Cyclist Nicholas Paul used his medal-less campaign at the UCI Nations Cup leg in Egypt last month to help reacclimatise himself to top-flight competition after undergoing almost six months of recovery.
Paul had his lucrative 2022 season cut short in October, when he fractured his collarbone and ribs and injured his thumb in a crash during a routine training session at the World Cycling Centre in Switzerland.
The Trinidad and Tobago cyclist made an anticipated return to the international circuit at the Egypt Nations Cup, but was unable to achieve a podium finish in either the sprint or keirin events.
However, at the Canada leg on the weekend, Paul seemed to be back to his old, race-winning self as he blasted to sprint gold and keirin bronze, his first major medals of 2023.
Paul was a bit disappointed with his Egypt stint, but returned to his Switzerland base and used the weeks in between for heavy training, which he said produced the desired results.
“It was hard, but that’s part of it. It feels great to be back on the podium because I’ve been putting in the hard work. And to see that it’s going in the right direction is a plus and I was pleased to return to prize rostrum again.”
Looking back on his performances at the past two meets, Paul confirmed there were some nerves in Egypt.
“Egypt was my first race after the big accident. Just being able to get back into the thick of things, Egypt was that type of race – reacclimatise.
“The mental part of recovery is something you have to deal with as well. When you’re competing, you don’t want to re-injure yourself, but at the same time, that’s part of elite sports so you just have to deal with it.”
Although he showed stellar form in Canada, Paul said he is still not yet back to full power.
“Going into Canada after having a good block of training, I was able to go out there and execute good racing, and come out with the medal. I was happy with my performance there. I came to Canada with good legs. I wanted to be fast and tactical…and that helped.
“I won’t say I’m back to full function, but I’m honestly in a better place than I was in Egypt. I’ve seen improvement in my training and recoveries. So I am happy with the place that I’m at right now.”
Looking ahead, Paul said his next major event is the Elite Pan American Track Cycling Championships, scheduled for July, in Argentina. This is an Olympic qualifier event.
Paul will be the one to beat, since he won triple gold (sprint, keirin, 1km time trial) at the same event in 2022, in Peru.
“I want to keep progressing in the right direction, to get stronger, faster and to be more technical on the bike. That’s the three goals I set.”
He credited his sponsors Republic Bank, the entire World Cycling Centre team in Switzerland and his fans back at home for giving him extra drive to compete on the world stage.
“To see all the support on social media coming out of TT and other places, it feels great, because as athletes we live to rep the red, white and black. It’s always a pleasure for us athletes.”
