Eileen Roe relishing Commonwealth Games appearance on home soil

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Eileen Roe is relishing the home support that her and the Team Scotland squad will receive when she competes on the track and road at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The 24-year-old from Fife will be part of the Scottish endurance squad riding in support of Katie Archibald and is buoyed by her form, that of her de facto team leader and the prospect of riding on a wave of partisan support.

For Roe, Glasgow will be a second Commonwealths appearance, having travelled to Delhi in 2010, an experience that will serve the British national circuit race champion well.

"I went to Delhi Commonwealth Games before and that was quite an experience being my first big event in cycling,” said Roe. "That was different, being in another country dealing with stuff that you'd never deal with.

"I think it's going to be an advantage to have it on home soil, the home crowd, it gives you that extra burst hearing the crowd behind you is going to be special,” she continued. "I've never experienced it before except for when we were at the Revolution in Glasgow.

“To hear the crowd cheering gave me goose bumps while I was racing. I've never heard that before so I think Glasgow is just going to be ten times better."

Roe has been selected to take part in the points and scratch races on the track and the road race, three events all requiring tactical know-how as well as race fitness. Roe, however is known for her ability to read a race and will play a key part in masterminding Team Scotland’s challenge.

The Starley Primal Pro Cycling rider won the 2014 Matrix Fitness Grand Prix Series, with fellow Team Scotland rider and close friend Charlene Joiner second.

Roe went on to win the British Cycling National Circuit Race Championships before turning her attention towards preparation for the track, an arena that Roe knows will yield Team Scotland’s best medal chances.

"As a team I think our medal chances will lie in the track,” said Roe. “Katie (Archibald) is going absolutely brilliant and she's shown that she's a dominant rider.

"It will quite hard because Katie will be a watched rider so there are opportunities for other people to perform at the Games as well but we are going in support of Katie.”

After a long season on the road however, Roe only returned to the track recently, her aim to build race fitness on the road and finish off her physical preparation on the boards, a tactic that seems to have paid dividends.

"I'm in really good form. I've shown through the year that my performance is getting better,” she said. “I had a really long road season and came three weeks to the track to try and get track legs.

“So I thought to race would be the best opportunity to get race fit and then come and finish it off at the track."

British Cycling Fan