Nicholas P. Clark is a former Australian professional cyclist, current Level 1USAC licensed coach, and an entrepreneur. Racing and competing from the age of 13, he was active as a professional racer from 1994 till 2005 when he retired to become a full-time coach and businessman. He founded ProBike FC in 2017 to train and develop cyclists, and to provide complete cycle boutique cycling experience. Clark began his professional cycling career in the 1990s as a domestique and spring classics rider, for Team Spenco, a Belgian elite development team and later moved on to race and work with several world tour and continental teams over two decades. He has also been active as a strategic executive management and professional with various accolades awarded for his services. Nicholas currently owns and runs ProBike FC and ProBike FC Performance Labs, leads ProBike FC’s women's cycling team as Directeur Sportif, and is the technical coach for Kelly Benefit Strategies Elite Men's and Development team.
Background and education
Born on 23 May 1975 in Jakarta, Indonesia, Clark returned to his native Australia at the age of 4. He began racing at the age of 13, however, he did not become a professional racer until he was picked by the Belgian team Spenco in the early 1990s. During this time, he also served in the Australian army. While professionally racing, he completed his undergraduate degree studies in Economics and Law from University of Sydney, and later went on to acquire his second bachelor's degree in Psychology from Colorado Technical University in 2019. Meanwhile, Clark also managed to acquire his postgraduate certification in Business Administration and Management from Columbia University in 2016. Clark has also acquired other credentials and certifications including an accredited fitter with the IBFI, a Certified Fitness Trainer, Specialist in Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise Specialist with the International Sports Sciences Association, a Certified School Cycling Instructor with Youth Education Sports, a Level 1 USA Cycling Coach, and Training Peaks accredited coach additionally.
Clark raced as a professional athlete from 1993 till 2005, with a significant part of it spent racing springs classics. His earliest accomplishment was achieving the 3rd position in the 1993 UCI Road World Cup – Junior Men's Road Race held on Oslo, Norway. He competed in ten major world cycling events across Europe and Asia as an elite domestic, world tour, and professional continental cyclist, these include:
He began his professional career in 1993 when the elite development team, Team Spenco based in Gent, Belgium, recruited him as a domestique. Later, he was picked by team Chazal as his first UCI ProTour contract. During the transition from Chazal to Casino, while under contract he was placed as a Stagiare. Clark disputed the downgrade and both parties came to a mutual release. Clark found his place at pro-continental teams primarily based in Italy, eventually returning to Australia in 2005 to begin working in various management and coaching roles in the UCI Asia Tour.
Career achievements
Clark has won various awards and accolades for cycling, entrepreneurship, and his business services. Some of his most notable achievements include:
