Scotland’s track cycling world champion Neah Evans says there will be extra pressure on her to defend her title on home soil in Glasgow this summer.
The Olympic, European, and Commonwealth medallist won the world title in the points race in October 2022.
It was her first major individual title, which she will aim to defend at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in August.
“There’s definitely quite a bit of pressure that goes with that,” 32-year-old Evans told BBC Scotland.
“Every world championships you go to you want to win. That’s why you’re on the start line.
“To go in as defending champion is added pressure. And it’s my home velodrome, this is where it all started for me. There’s lots of extra incentives. So I’ve got 100 days to find some form.”
Evans was visiting a school in Glasgow as part of the 100-day countdown to the UCI World Championships.
The event, which is centred in Glasgow but will also include races in Stirling, Fort William and the Scottish Borders, brings together 13 different disciplines for the first time.
It is being billed as the biggest cycling event ever, and Evans says it is a great opportunity for the sport to showcase itself.
“I’m biased, I think track cycling is amazing and everyone should have a go,” she said.
“I understand it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but everyone should be able to go and ride the velodrome.
“But there are so many different disciplines. There’s the football one gymnastics one, there’s downhill. There are so many different forms of cycling. That’s the beauty of the sport, its diversity.
“It’s going to be massive to see that under one umbrella.
“This is going to go down in the history books and I’m so excited to be part of it. Hopefully some of the youngsters watching it will be inspired and think ‘I want to give that a go’.”
