Gold may still prove elusive, but Evans eager to embrace Glasgow Games

Neah Evans knows what it's like to be on the start line in a Commonwealth Games final. She knows the nerves, excitement and sometimes sheer terror of competing at the pinnacle of track cycling.

And she knows what it's like to do it in front of a home crowd on the boards where she first experienced the sport that has come to define her life.

The 35-year-old is standing at the side of that very track pondering what's gone before and what is still to come after being confirmed in Team Scotland's cycling squad for this summer's Commonwealth Games.

Four medals in a Scotland suit across two Games. Two silver. Two bronze.

Gold has proved elusive so far and might again after a rough 18 months in which illness has been a near constant companion - if not physically, then mentally - for the two-time Olympic silver medallist.

But Evans is here. In Glasgow. In Team Scotland. Knowing she's not going to be at her best but knowing that she's finally in sufficient shape to compete, a year since she last raced. And, if the cards fall in her favour, maybe even to win.

"I'm kind of wishing the Games were a little bit farther away, but that's how it goes," she tells BBC Sport Scotland after being among the 13 athletes added to the quartet already pre-selected.

"It's completely changed how I think about it. I thought I'd be coming into this in a great place and trying to get that gold medal. But having had that time off, you just completely rethink it.

"It's frustrating knowing what I would like to do versus where I'm actually at. But I'm just really grateful that I'll be in a good enough form to race and compete."

Standing atop the podium, with Flower of Scotland reverberating around the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome has - Evans confesses - fleetingly returned to her dreams. But she accepts it's a long shot.

Instead, she is determined to enjoy the occasion and enjoy competing in front of a home crowd - even if realising she is now one of the old heads in the team caused her brow to furrow.

"It sounds so cheesy, but honestly, when everything in your body is screaming at you to stop, and you feel sick, and your legs are burning, it's amazing how you can just squeeze something extra out when the crowd gets behind you," she says.

"I love racing in Glasgow. I 100% would not be a cyclist if this velodrome didn't exist. So there's something really nice about coming back here, and the Glasgow crowd is always, always loud. And it's always a lot of fun."