"VAN" (Sports Desk - 05.06.2026) :: Hosts Scotland, together with England and New Zealand, revealed their finalised cycling squads the multi-sport Games which run from 23 July until 2 August.
Ellesse Andrews, a star of the Birmingham 2022 track programme with three titles for New Zealand across the Sprint, Team Sprint and Keirin, returns for a second Commonwealth Games appearance.
The double Olympic gold medallist is joined by fellow Paris 2024 podium finisher and reigning Commonwealth champion Bryony Botha, as well as Rebecca Petch, who recently returned to the sport after the birth of her son.
New Zealand won 11 medals at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome at Glasgow 2014 and will mark their return to the venue by fielding Para Track Cycling athletes as part of their line-up at a Commonwealth Games, with Nicole Murray, Devon Briggs and Emma Foy, as well as pilot Jessie Hodges, all set to feature in Scotland this summer.
The trio earned nine medals between them at the UCI Track World Championships last year, led by a gold medal for Briggs in the 10,000m, while Murray and Briggs collectively won seven medals at the UCI World Championships in Glasgow in 2023, where Murray won gold in the Omnium.
England’s squad features Paralympic champions Kadeena Cox and Lizzi Jordan, who are set to make their Commonwealth Games debuts, along with Birmingham 2022 silver medallists Sophie Unwin.
Their Track Cycling team includes Olympic Team Sprint champion duo Sophie Capewell and Katy Marchant, as well as World medallist Rhianna Parris-Smith.
Their most intriguing selection is arguably that of reigning champion Matthew Richardson, who won gold for Australia in the Men’s Sprint four years ago.
The cyclist was born in Kent, UK, before moving to Western Australia at the age of nine and maintained dual citizenship during his 16 years in the southern hemisphere.
He opted to switch to representing Great Britain after winning three medals for Team Australia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and will now make his debut for England at Glasgow 2026.
“It’s super special,” Richardson tells Glasgow 2026. “I don’t think it happens very often where people get to do two consecutive Commonwealth Games for different countries.
There’s that aspect to it and I’ve got to really enjoy that opportunity, that experience and be proud of that moment.”
Two-time World champion Neah Evans spearheads the newly announced Scottish cohort of 13 cyclists, joining the pre-selected quartet of Lauren Bell and Mark Stewart, and para-cyclists Neil Fachie MBE and Fin Graham.
Evans, who at Birmingham 2022 became the first Scottish cyclist to win three medals at a single Commonwealth Games, will look to add to her honours list at a home Games, in the velodrome where she first took to a track bike after being inspired by Glasgow 2014.
“Back then, if someone had said I’d get to one Commonwealth Games I’d have never believed them and to now have made a career out of it and be heading to my third Games is wild,” Evans told Glasgow 2026.
“There’s something really special about the Commonwealth Games, it really feels like you’re coming home and my goal is to enjoy it.”
Among those who will make Commonwealth debuts for Scotland this summer are four-time World Junior champion Erin Boothman, European gold medallist Kate Richardson and Michael Gill, a former age-group World champion in Acrobatic Gymnastics turned two-time European medal-winning cyclist.
Cr-Glasgow2026
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