Lauren Bell does not have to look far when it comes to getting advice on how to ensure she performs her best at the upcoming World Cycling Championships.
In fact, she need only look across her kitchen table.
Bell’s housemate is, handily for what she is about to embark upon, the multi medal-winning cyclist, Jack Carlin.
And so Bell, who is a relative novice at contending for major championship silverware, is all ears when her revered housemate offers advice over his cornflakes.
Carlin remains modest when pressed about how much help he can be to his compatriot. But Bell is in no doubt that being able to tap into the brain of someone who has won medals at every major championship is invaluable.
“Jack’s spoken a lot about not overthinking things,” the 23-year-old says. “He’s been telling me that I know what I’m doing, I’ve done it multiple times and so now, it’s about honing in on what I’ve done this entire year rather than over-thinking everything and throwing different things into the mix.
“So really, he’s just reinforcing that I know what I’m doing and so keep focusing on that.
“His experience and advice does help calm me. Jack’s good at balancing the social side and the cycling side of things. Especially leading into a championships, you can get really bogged down in thinking ‘I’m not going to do anything away from cycling’ but what Jack’s good at is balancing that by still seeing friends, still seeing family and still doing things that you enjoy and that’s a good lesson.”
Bell remains one of the lesser-known Scottish cyclists who make up part of the GB squad that will aim to take what will be a home World Championships by storm.
The event, which includes seven different cycling disciplines, begins in Glasgow a week on Thursday and for Bell, who only broke into the GB squad two years ago, this will be one of the most significant moments of her career.
But despite her relative inexperience on the international stage, the Forres native is no stranger to success. Already, Bell has won World Championship bronze last year and European championship silver this year, both as part of GB’s team sprint squad.
And while the nerves are accumulating already, her recent success is helping calm her when she thinks about the expectation that will be on all the home riders’ shoulders.
“I do feel more nervous because these Worlds are in Glasgow,” she says. “There’s two sides to it, though. We might be more nervous because it’s a home crowd but also, everyone wants you to do well.
“I remember last year, I was racing in Paris and was up against a French girl and the crowd just went insane for her. She’d go round the corner and the noise was crazy and then I went round the corner and it was quiet. So it’ll be nice to have that for me, and that’ll help with the nerves, I think.
“Also, I work well when I’m basing things on evidence. So if I’m feeling like I’m getting a bit nervous or stressed, I think back to the evidence I have. We’ve done well recently and that does give me a lot of confidence.”
Bell’s primary hope of silverware will, as has been the case over the past year, come in the team sprint, alongside her team-mates Sophie Capewell, Emma Finucane and Katy Marchant and they will be amongst the favourites to reach the latter stages. But translating that potential into gold will be no easy feat.
However, Bell has allowed her mind to drift to the thought of becoming world champion, on home soil, in the velodrome in which she learned her trade.
“As a squad, everyone has timed their improvement really well and so everyone’s feeling positive that we can get a good result,” she says.
“It’d be amazing to win gold; if there’s ever a time to become World Champ, it’d be at this Worlds.
“In 2019, it was announced the Worlds was going to be in Glasgow and it was going to be this huge event. And I remember thinking I want to be there. I wasn’t even on the British team back then but I knew I wanted to be on this team so fast forward to now, I’m here. It feels like it’s gone full circle so to win would be a dream come true.”
