Fresh from claiming three British titles in 2025, 26-year-old track cycling star Lauren Bell is gearing up to hit the velodrome for Team Scotland at Glasgow 2026

The Commonwealth Games are fast approaching. Is there a motivational rush when you’re competing at home, as well as an added pressure? 

It’s a blessing and a curse. You don’t get to represent Scotland that often, so there’s that pressure to do well. But I’ve been in the sport for quite a while now, and I know that you can only do your best. You just have to focus on the things you can control, not the outcomes. As exciting as it is for me to visualise winning and singing ‘Flower of Scotland’, it’s more about focusing on executing my best race possible. 

Track cycling is an intense discipline. What is it about those fast-paced laps that you enjoy most?

Track is quite an interesting sport. You can hear when people are sprinting around the velodrome: the wood, the noise it makes, and even the smell. It’s fast and explosive, and we don’t always know what’s going to happen. That just adds to the excitement, and that’s the bit I enjoy about it.

You were a junior champion sprinter, then moved on from athletics to cycling – although competing via bike wasn’t your first choice. 

I remember seeing the Talent Transfer email arrive in my inbox [a UK programme designed to fast-track athletes into new sports], and I just didn’t want to do it. I applied the day before it was about to close, and figured I could say no later. Initially I wanted to do a winter sliding sport like skeleton, because I didn’t like cycling when I was younger. I’m very grateful it turned out for the best, and that transfer pushed me down the right path. 

What does it take to get to an elite level in track?

It’s all about the mental side. Everyone’s talented physically – that’s why they’re in the sport. Having support from friends and family has really helped me. It keeps me in a happy mindset. If I have a happy head, I’ll have happy legs. My secret to better performance is using those people around you and not always getting bogged down. It’s sometimes taking a step back and realising what we’re doing should be fun. 

How do you maintain a confident mindset?

What I’ve found really helped me is keeping a list of all my good performances. That could be a Personal Best score or consistently lifting a certain weight in the gym. It doesn’t have to be something crazy like breaking a world record. It can be those little things. Then you can look back on the list – especially when you’re at a race and getting nervous, or when a little bit of imposter syndrome is coming in, so you know you’ve got the goods.

How do you create balance alongside your training schedule?

During the week we’re pretty busy. We’ve got three gym sessions a week, three track sessions, then maybe a few turbo sessions [stationary cycling]. I make sure I switch off from cycling when I leave the building, and go out for dinner with friends or see my boyfriend. Sometimes it’s difficult because you’ve given everything to a race – it affects your sleep, what you eat, you sacrifice social events. If it doesn’t turn out well, I don’t push the feelings away – whether I’m annoyed, disappointed, or I need to cry. I’ll let myself feel it, then it’s back to the drawing board. 

You’re part of a generation that’s helping to raise the profile of women’s cycling. How are you seeing the sport evolve?

We now have a big squad of women within British Cycling – and nine female sprint cyclists, a number that’s grown since I’ve joined the sport. You could send any of these athletes to the World Cup and they would do well. That’s really positive for the future of the sport and it keeps you on your toes. You definitely can’t take your foot off the throttle, because there’s always someone who could take your place.