Team Wales cyclist Lewis Oliva has insisted that there is no reason why his nation can't do well on the track at this summer's Commonwealth Games.
Oliva set a new personal best in the men's 200m sprint qualifying at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome earlier today, progressing through to the first round with a time of 10.171s.
The 21-year-old is wary of the likes of Australia and New Zealand, both of whom had riders that broke the Commonwealth Games record in qualifying, but he believes that the support of the crowd will stand the home nations in good stead.
"You can [hear the crowd]. Usually you can zone out, but it's that loud in here that you can't. Fair play to the Scots, they're doing well," Oliva told Sports Mole.
"We always expect the Aussies to do well - this is their big thing, this is how they get funding for the squad, whereas we don't get an awful lot of funding. The home nations do but as Great Britain we don't really.
"It's always tough to see the Aussies and Kiwis come here and bring a full-strength squad. You've got reigning world champions and Commonwealth champions here, so it's always going to be tough, but there is no reason why we can't do it near our own backyard."
Matthew Glaetzer of Australia topped the qualifying with a Games record of 9.779s.
