Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

EVE MUIRHEAD: Popularity of World Cycling Championships in Scotland shows how far the sport has come

The event has been spread across the country.

The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome has been sold out every night during the Cycling World Championships.
The Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome has been sold out every night during the Cycling World Championships. Image: SNS.

It’s been made easy for me to catch some of the Cycling World Championships because the time trial routes are about a five minute walk away from my front door in Stirling.

Just looking at the last climb up to the castle makes me feel knackered!

Even if it wasn’t so local I’d have done my best to see some elite, live sport.

You’ll always find people who get annoyed when streets are closed and there’s a bit of inconvenience to their daily lives but I’m certainly not one of them.

Even if you’re not convinced by arguments about sporting legacy, the Championships are said to be worth around £17 million to the Scottish economy.

You don’t turn your nose up at that.

I just love the idea of world class sport coming to Scotland.

I tried to get tickets for the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome but no joy. It was sold out every night.

And it was the same for the mountain bike downhill at Fort William.

Luckily, I’m going to see some BMX racing on Saturday, which I’m really looking forward to.

You forget just how many variations of cycling there are.

Sprint bravery

This year’s Etape gave me a taste for covering a long distance but that didn’t take me as far out of my comfort zone as getting on a bike with no brakes in a velodrome!

It’s about a year since I took part in Sport Relief and raced Helen Glover in the Lee Valley Velopark in Sheffield.

The pain that puts you through when the lactic acid builds up is unlike anything my curling career would ever throw at me.

It really is brutal.

Helen was a bit more familiar with it from her rowing days, that’s for sure!

You don’t actually get a proper idea of how steep the banking is until you’re sat on a saddle at the bottom of it.

Just staying on your bike for the whole race feels like an achievement.

I really do take my hat off to the sprinters – when they do the cat and mouse head to heads and then come down from the top of the track, it’s an incredible spectacle.

One of the best in sport.

I actually really admire how British cycling has managed to sustain its popularity since the high point of Sir Chris, Sir Bradley Wiggins and all the other Olympians who won so many gold medals.

It definitely feels that it’s claimed a spot at the top of the minority sports for the public over here.

The attendances in Scotland this week back that up.

And the success we’re having would suggest that there could be another competitive Olympic peak around the corner.


I must admit, I really wasn’t sure what to expect at the Perth Salute on Sunday.

It was an incredible honour to be chosen to receive the Freedom of the City but you can never be sure how many people will turn out for an event like that.

The stands were packed on the North Inch and all the dancers, pipers and other performers were brilliant.

It was a lovely atmosphere and myself and the girls were made to feel really special.

A big ‘thank you’ to Perth and Kinross Council and everybody who came along for making it such a memorable day.

Conversation