Neah Evans could not imagine one day she’d return to the place where her cycling career began as the reigning world champion. But now, that is exactly what she will do.
Evans, who hails from Cuminestown near Turriff, is aiming to defend her points race title at the UCI Cycling World Championships which are being held in Glasgow between August 3-13.
Glasgow holds a special place in Evans’ heart.
She studied to be a vet at the University of Glasgow and it was during her final year when an injury saw her swap running for the velodrome track.
The cyclist, 33, admits back then she felt like a deer in the headlights having never trained nor competed in an environment like it before.
But, a successful career has to start somewhere and now Evans boasts five Commonwealth Games medals, won in 2018 and 2022, an Olympic silver medal, and has held national, European and world titles, over a number of events.
To return to her roots donning the rainbow jersey as points world champion is a full-circle moment, says Evans ahead of her title-defence race on August 8.
“The World Championships being not only at my home velodrome, but the velodrome where it all began is particularly special,” said Evans.
“I hadn’t been in the sport that long and I can still very clearly remember going to my accreditation for the first time. I’d never been on a fixed gear bike, had never had clipped in pedals – I really didn’t have a clue.
“There’s something quite bizarre about going to the same velodrome years later to race for a world title.
“I’m pretty confident if you had said to me or anybody else that I would be going back to Glasgow one day to defend a world title, we would be lying on the floor laughing.
“Cycling tends to be a sport where a lot of the people who succeed have been involved from quite a young age and have come through the development pathways.
“To be an athlete coming into the sport, to have picked it up so quickly and to get to this level, it’s all been very special for me.”
Full focus on race day
There will be no time for reminiscing when out on the track at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome as Evans admits when racing, her performance on the bike is her sole focus.
“It’s always a good build-up with all of the anticipation and expectations, but when I get there for racing I am there to do my job,” said Evans.
“I’m very serious! I’m not going to be reflecting or thinking about where I’ve come from because I’m there to perform, but, once the race is over I’ll go off and reflect again.
“On race day, the only thoughts I’ll have is: ‘have I done enough training?’ or ‘how do my legs feel?’ or ‘what is my process and how am I going to stick to it?’.”
Evans has been named in Great Britain’s endurance squad alongside Katie Archibald, Elinor Barker, Meg Barker, Josie Knight, Anna Morris, Jess Roberts and Sophie Lewis, who is reserve.
For Evans, who is aiming to be involved in the team pursuit as well as her solo event, recent preparation has been less than ideal after a training crash last week.
Such crashes, Evans says, are inevitable in the sport and she has learnt to deal with the effects of them in the lead up to such a major event in the calendar.
“It’s part and parcel,” said Evans. “Any athlete who has had a career in sport will have faced highs and lows.
“There’s no point dwelling on it too much because these unfortunate things happen.
“I’ve just got to focus on what I can do and take those steps to make sure I bounce back as quickly and as safely as I can.”