Neah Evans: Langbank’s world champion cyclist

From veterinarian to cycling mainstay, Neah Evans talks to Ethan Barlow about her unorthodox route to Scottish sporting history

Langbank’s Neah Evans has reached the pinnacle of competitive cycling, achieving Commonwealth Games medals in both track and road events. The 35-year-old has also picked up Olympic silver in her specialised track events, winning multiple championships along the way. But, it was never always the plan.

Unlike most athletes, Evans’ aspirations weren’t to become world champion of their sport from a young age. In fact, before being crowned Women’s Point Race World Champion in 2022, she spent most of her life as an aspiring vet. 

The six-time European Champion even referred to herself as an “accidental cyclist”, although the medals, achievements and career she’s built for herself would suggest otherwise.

Evans recollected her first memories of being involved in cycling, in any capacity: “I went to a velodrome [for the first time] when I was 24” she recalled. “I had never been on a fixed gear bike. I was never into cycling, but it all escalated after that. It really went from nothing to everything.”

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While working as a veterinarian surgeon on the banks of Loch Lomond, Evans took up cycling as a hobby. It was something she did leisurely, rather than anything she was being too competitive about. Beginning to take the sport more seriously, Evans loved seeing her progression and believed she was a “good amateur, if you like”. 

When given the opportunity to complete a trial with British Cycling, Neah was naturally ecstatic, but she still didn’t think becoming a professional cyclist was a possibility.

“I thought I’d maybe do a year and then they’d discover I wasn’t good enough and I’d go back to being a vet,” Neah reflected. “It took me winning medals at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast 2018, to almost go, ‘I’m pretty good at this cycling’ because it all happened so fast. I’m still waiting to find out!”

Despite making a rather late arrival into cycling and competition in general, Evans comes from a sporting family. Her mother, Ros, was an Olympian. She competed in the Winter Games in skiing events.

“She fell into skiing later in life, which is kind of similar to me”, Evans added.

One of Neah’s two older brothers, Donald, also competed in professional sports, winning gold in the 2014 Commonwealth Games’ Rowing Championships. When asked if coming from a competitive household drove her to success, she replied that “anyone who’s growing up with older brothers, needs to be competitive, to a certain degree. I had to be able to hold my own because we all played together and it was always the games they wanted to play because they were the biggest and the oldest. There was definitely a competitive element between us, but I think quite quickly we turned it outwardly, rather than trying to get one up on each other.”

Neah Evans, photo Glasgow 2026, glasgow2026.com

Growing up without becoming an athlete on the forefront of Evans’ mind has helped her easily dictate her career path beyond professional cycling. As a fully qualified vet, unlike the bulk of sporting competitors, Evans has her post-cycling life all worked out. Speaking on her career working with animals, she said: 

“From quite a young age, I always wanted to be a vet. I’m very fortunate that when my cycling career does come to an end, I know what I’m going to do at the end of it. I’ve got a really good career that I love, ready to go effectively. I do it because I love it, not because I need it as a job.”

Evans spoke on the “highs and lows” of being an athlete and in amongst a career of hardships, her triumph at the sport’s highest level still ranks as her favourite accolade in the sport. 

“I’ve been fortunate that I’ve had quite a few [medals]. I think one that really resonated was the first Olympic medal. It’s very hard to overlook going to the Olympics, never mind coming away with one of those. 

Neah Evans, photo Glasgow 2026, glasgow2026.com

Winning silver in Tokyo in 2021 was a remarkable achievement for Evans. She shared the fortunate circumstances behind the Olympics being delayed and how her career might have been so different. 

“I think it worked to my advantage because I was still new in the sport,” Neah revealed. “That extra year definitely gave me a boost and another year of training. I’d had a training crash in 2020, just at the beginning of lockdown and I’d broken my scapula. I remember it was two days later when they said the Olympics were going to be postponed and I was like ‘oh, thank goodness for that’. I did believe I’d get back in time for that, but it would’ve been challenging.”

Luck fell on Evans’ side on this occasion, but it hasn’t always been the case and she feels it’s important to recognise athletes’ struggles as well as their success. 

Although it was a smooth and plain sailing journey from “amateur” to professional cyclist for Neah Evans, it’s been anything but that since she began competing. Evans has suffered massive adversity in her career including injuries and a career threatening illness, back in April of last year. She opened up on the difficulties of being a high-level athlete and the strain your body is sometimes put under.

Neah Evans, photo Glasgow 2026, glasgow2026.com

“I ended up with a viral illness, which basically means you have no energy. I remember trying to walk up a flight of stairs and I got half way up the flight of stairs and had to stop for a break because I just didn’t have the energy to get the whole way up. Things like that as an athlete, being so fatigued that you can’t even walk up a single flight of stairs. It’s incredible, and it’s awful because you feel so helpless.

“That was really difficult, especially the timing of it with the Olympics on the horizon. Knowing that if I followed the conventional return time to training, I wouldn’t have made it to the Olympics, so I had to gamble.”

Evans’ gamble seemed to pay off as she claimed an emotional silver medal in Paris. But this wasn’t the first time she’d pushed through the pain barrier in the lead up to a successful race. 

“I’d put a hole in my hip flexor, so that took a long time to rehab, but I raced with it [in Glasgow] and we won the World Championships. If I hadn’t got the result I wanted, it would’ve been really difficult but because I still managed to generate that, it’s now a funny story.”

Evans started her cycling career later than the majority of professionals and hopes to conclude it in similar fashion. When asked about what’s next for her career, Evans admitted: “I don’t feel I’m finished. I still look back and think ‘I could improve on this, or I could improve on that.’ I’ve got the Commonwealth Games, next year in Glasgow. Which I’m very much looking forward to.”

The last time the Commonwealth Games were held in Glasgow, Neah Evans hadn’t even discovered her love for cycling. Twelve years on, she’s a multiple time, multiple event Commonwealth medallist, going for Gold in her home nation. 

For more from Neah Evans or to keep up with her journey, visit Instagram