Deprived of one knight-rider, the Games unexpectedly gained the presence of another, someone who is expected to light up the Glasgow 2014 track programme.
Sir Bradley Wiggins can expect a welcome few Englishmen would receive in Glasgow, when he rolls into the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome, while the Tour de France he won in 2012 reaches its climax.
Hoy’s retirement in April 2013 led some to fear the gloss would come off the cycling programme, but Wiggins’ inclusion has added another coat.
Laura Trott and Jason Kenny – girlfriend and boyfriend, and possessors of five Olympic gold medals between them – may have made disparaging remarks about the importance of the Commonwealth Games, but England team-mate Wiggins just loves to ride and race, having last competed in the event in 2002.
He is likely to ride in the individual pursuit and the road time-trial, where David Millar will be bidding to defend his title.
Millar is retiring at the end of the year after a distinguished career punctuated by a two-year doping ban, yet he was accepted into Scotland’s team in Delhi in 2010 with open arms.
Millar and the Isle of Man’s Mark Cavendish were inseparable in 2010, but Cavendish will be absent, following shoulder surgery after his crash in the Tour de France.
The Isle of Man will be represented by Pete Kennaugh, another Team Sky rider who missed out on Tour selection, while Geraint Thomas will lead Wales’ charge, as the home nations seek to fend off the overseas challenge.
Lizzie Armitstead won the women’s title a year ago and will lead England in the road race, while also competing in the time-trial alongside Joanna Rowsell.
Northern Ireland’s Wendy Houvenaghel is also poised to ride in the time-trial, having fallen out of contention for the British team.
There could be an intriguing track battle between Olympic and world championshipwinning team-mates Rowsell, Trott, Dani King, Elinor Barker of Wales and Katie Archibald of Scotland.
The quintet will vie for honours in the points and scratch races and the individual pursuit, with Archibald on home soil.
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