{"id":381123,"date":"2026-01-01T08:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T08:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/381123\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T08:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T08:27:09","slug":"cycling-year-in-review-paul-wallace-light-up-the-track-teniel-conquers-road","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/381123\/","title":{"rendered":"Cycling year in review: Paul, Wallace light up the track; Teniel conquers road"},"content":{"rendered":"

\tSports<\/a><\/p>\n

\t
\n\t\tJonathan Ramnanansingh
\n\t<\/a><\/p>\n

3 Hrs Ago<\/p>\n

\"NicholasNicholas Paul – AP PHOTO<\/p>\n

Trinidad and Tobago cycling\u2019s 2025 season will be remembered for strong international performances, regional dominance and progress among its junior riders, despite the year closing under the shadow of an ongoing legal matter involving the federation and three elite cyclists.<\/p>\n

Over the past 12 months, TT\u2019s cyclists delivered medals across both track and road disciplines, and breakthrough performances on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

‘Nico’ still lighting up the track<\/p>\n

At the centre of TT\u2019s international campaign was two-time World Championships medallist Nicholas Paul, who once again set the standard on the track. Paul produced a commanding showing at the Pan American Track Cycling Championships (April) in Asunci\u00f3n, Paraguay, emerging as one of the most decorated athletes of the meet.<\/p>\n

He rode to gold medals in the men\u2019s sprint, team sprint (with Njisane Phillip and Ryan D\u2019Abreau) and 1K time trial, while adding silver in the keirin.<\/p>\n

In July, the speedster travelled to the US to snatch sprint gold at the Summer Slam event in California.<\/p>\n

Paul carried that form into the UCI Track Cycling World Championships (October) in Santiago, Chile, but missed out on a podium spot after placing fourth in the sprint. He was seventh in the keirin.<\/p>\n

Despite pedalling to World Champs silver at the 2021 (1K time trial) and 2023 (sprint) editions, Paul was unable to earn silverware this time around.<\/p>\n

In December, the Switzerland-based Paul closed off his season with sprint gold and keirin silver at the Bolivarian Games in Ayacucho and Lima, Peru. This was the first time TT was featured at the Games, competing as part of an invited contingent.<\/p>\n

Paul\u2019s body of work across the season culminated with the TT Cycling Federation naming him male international cyclist of the year at their annual awards.<\/p>\n

Teniel continues to conquer the road<\/p>\n

On the road, female pro-endurance cyclist Teniel Campbell enjoyed another productive season.<\/p>\n

Campbell was the undisputed standout at the Caribbean Elite Road Cycling Championships (October) in Belize, where she claimed gold in the women\u2019s individual time trial, before returning to win gold in the women\u2019s road race.<\/p>\n

At Pan American competitions earlier in the year, she collected medals on the track, including gold in the points race and bronze in the elimination race.<\/p>\n

She represented TT at the UCI Road World Championships (September) in Rwanda, finishing 23rd in the women\u2019s time trial against a global field of riders.<\/p>\n

Her consistent results across road and track saw her recognised as female international cyclist of the year by the TTCF.<\/p>\n

Wallace pedals up the rankings <\/p>\n

A key highlight for TT this year was the continued rise of female sprint sensation Makaira Wallace, whose transition from junior standout to senior international cyclist gained momentum.<\/p>\n

Wallace began her 2025 campaign in January at the Bromont Class Two event in Quebec, Canada, where she secured fourth and fifth in the sprint and keirin respectively.<\/p>\n

In March, at the UCI Track Nations Cup in Konya, Turkey, she set a new national record of 10.784 seconds in the women\u2019s sprint qualifying round (flying 200m) on debut at this level.<\/p>\n

Although a senior, she was still eligible to compete at the Junior Pan Am Games in August. There she earned triple-bronze; alongside Kyra Williams and Phoebe Sandy in the team sprint; and individually in the sprint and keirin.<\/p>\n

\"\"JLD Cycling Academy and TT’s Makaira Wallace. – Photo courtesy JLD Cycling Academy<\/p>\n

In October, Wallace made history at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Chile, as the first female sprint cyclist from TT to qualify for the event. She advanced through the opening rounds of the sprint, before being eliminated by eventual gold medallist Mina Sato. She also set a new national 500m time trial record (1:09.822).<\/p>\n

Wallace closed her remarkable year in December at the XX Bolivarian Games in Peru, where she secured silver in the sprint final and bronze in the keirin.<\/p>\n

These performances propelled her to a year-end UCI world ranking of 23rd in the elite women\u2019s sprint, a massive rise from 86th at the start of the year.<\/p>\n

On the local circuit, Wallace also shone by way of capturing the national elite\/Under-23 keirin title.<\/p>\n

Fittingly, Wallace copped the TT Olympic Committee\u2019s Junior Sportswoman of the Year and People\u2019s Choice awards at their annual ceremony on December 29.<\/p>\n

Akil, juniors show promise<\/p>\n

Another key contributor on the endurance side was Teniel’s younger sibling, Akil, who dominated the local circuit early in the season and went on to represent TT at the Caribbean Road Champs.<\/p>\n

There, he finished fifth in the elite men\u2019s individual time trial and placed 11th in the road race. Despite not medalling, Akil remains TT\u2019s brightest senior prospect as an enduro.<\/p>\n

Junior cyclists also delivered on the regional stage as Danell James, Jelani Nedd and Ryan D\u2019Abreau rode to team sprint bronze at the Pan Am Games in Paraguay. James went on to bag another third place finish in the men\u2019s keirin, and along with Wallace, William and Sandy\u2019s (all women) performances there, TT completed one of their best showings at this level.<\/p>\n

Another rising speedster, Jadian Neaves, was a standout at the Easter International Grand Prix, winning both the points and elimination races.<\/p>\n

Neaves added an international medal to his season by capturing bronze in the Under-23 road race at the Caribbean Champs. He also gained welcomed experience on debut at the Road World Championships in Rwanda.<\/p>\n

National championships earlier in the year saw both Trishton Jaichan and Cassidy Samaroo claiming junior titles and later being recognised as the federation\u2019s most outstanding junior male and female cyclists respectively.<\/p>\n

Cyclists, TTCF in court battle<\/p>\n

Amid the many success stories, cycling closed off the year with the TTCF and three cyclists \u2013 Njisane Phillip, Makaira Wallace (JLD Cycling Academy) and Alexi Ramirez (Heatwave) \u2013 in a legal battle regarding the federation\u2019s planned staging of January 17 \u201cimpromptu national selection trials\u201d for the upcoming Pan Am Track Champs.<\/p>\n

The clubs and cyclists are seeking an order restraining the TTCF from taking steps to implement its decision to hold the trials, claiming it does not align with the federation\u2019s selection policy and procedures.<\/p>\n

The matter was heard virtually before High Court judge Justice James on December 30. As a result, the cyclists have to write to the federation with a proposal, since no final decision was given by the judge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports Jonathan Ramnanansingh 3 Hrs Ago Nicholas Paul – AP PHOTO Trinidad and Tobago cycling\u2019s 2025 season will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-381123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}