Stewart taking golden form into home event

Double gold boosts Dundee rider’s hopes of success at track World Cup event in Manchester

Dundee cyclist Mark Stewart is determined to use his two recent gold medals at the European Under-23 Track Championships in Portugal as a springboard for even greater success.

The 21-year-old has a home TISSOT UCI track cycling World Cup to look forward to later this year and is looking to reinforce his reputation as an omnium star in the making.

“Portugal was a major one for me to become double champion,” he said.

“It was a bit of a surprise to win two titles, I’d never really considered myself to be strong in the individual pursuit.

“You go into each race or competition with ambition, but it’s not often that you surpass your own expectations.

“I’ve felt settled, my head has been in a good place and I’ve been able to get a good routine going. Things have been able to click and the ball has started to keep rolling.

“There are ups and downs every year, but this has been a really enjoyable one, there’s been a lot to take away from it in terms of medals and things I’ve been able to build on.

While Manchester holds a special place in the heart of most British track cyclists, Stewart can lay a strong claim to be high on that list.

It is a velodrome he has been able to call home for more than a decade, and with the track cycling World Cup now less than 100 days away, the excitement is already ramping up.

He added: “When you’ve got thousands of people watching you it makes things very real, it’s so much of a privilege.

“Britain is ridiculous when you compare it to other countries for the support. They are absolutely phenomenal, across the board people come out and support in the masses.

“We did the track World Cup in Glasgow last year.

“There are a lot of advantages of racing at home, but to be able to do it at the place we train and our base is going to be pretty special.

“I used to come down to Manchester when I was 10 years old, so to progress from that and then be able to train, and now being able to compete there at a track World Cup is a big moment.

“That progression is a bit exciting, it holds a lot of nice memories and hopefully we can give it a few more.”

You go into each race or competition with ambition, but it’s not often that you surpass your own expectations MARK STEWART

Stewart and his British team-mates will be competing between November 10 and 12 at the Manchester Velodrome in one of the most anticipated events on the track cycling calendar. For tickets visit http://www.trackworldcup.co.uk/ tickets/

Mark Stewart: surprised himself by winning two golds at the European Under-23 Championships.