AS the only Scottish-born rider in the field, Mark Stewart ought to receive one of the warmest receptions when the Tour of Britain gets underway this morning from George Square in Glasgow. The blustery, autumnal conditions might also suit him better than most.

“I don’t mind it when the weather’s like this,” he says. “All the European guys come over and it makes it tougher for them! But we’re used to it. Tao Hart’s riding and I think he’s got some kind of Scottish heritage but I’m the only born and bred Scotsman as far as I know so that’s nice with the tour starting up here.”

Stewart is just 21 but his involvement in the eight-stage event – the first of which travels the 100 miles from Glasgow to Castle Douglas – is another sign of the Dundonian’s emergence as one of Scotland’s most talented young cyclists. As a member of British Cycling’s senior academy programme, Stewart has been based at the Montichiari velodrome near the Italian city of Brescia for most of this year, a setting that has allowed him to train in slightly more pleasant conditions than often found back home.

“It’s been tough as it’s the hardest amateur racing in the world,” he admits. “You have to step up and it’s physically very demanding. But it’s also really enjoyable. You’re over in Europe riding a bike and someone is paying you to do that. That definitely gives you a bit of perspective and makes you realise how lucky you are. Being in Italy the training is better, and the lifestyle is better for us bike riders. David Millar is here too helping and he’s been really good with us, giving us lots of advice. We’ve got plenty of coaches and staff but Dave is more of a mentor and friend. You can learn plenty from a guy like that.”

Stewart is already eyeing up the bigger picture. He hopes to advance to the next stage of the British Cycling programme this year, while a long-term goal is to represent Team GB at the Tokyo Olympics in four years’ time. Watching the medal-winning performances of the British team in Rio – including Scot Callum Skinner, a close friend of Stewart’s brother Kevin, an academy sprint coach – has served as additional inspiration.

“I don’t want to limit myself to track or road – I definitely want to do both,” he says. “But after seeing the success in Rio – and having experienced a small part of that journey with some of the guys who were out there – then I definitely want that for myself in Tokyo. I’m a motivated man for that. I’m hoping to progress to the podium squad this year – I’ll find out soon – and then this winter I’ll look to break into the A team with Bradley Wiggins and Owain Doull moving on from the team pursuit. That’s the plan anyway.”

The Commonwealth Games on Australia’s Gold Coast two years prior to Tokyo offers the chance of a dummy run, with Stewart, Skinner and Sunday Herald columnist Katie Archibald potentially forming the backbone of what could be a fairly formidable Scottish cycling team.

“I think we’ll be going there to be very competitive,” Stewart says. “We’ve got Grant Ferguson as well on the mountain bikes so we’ll be covering a lot of disciplines.”

For now, however, Stewart’s focus is on this week’s endeavours around the roads of Britain. It is shaping up to be a gruelling event with a stellar start list. Wiggins, the 2013 winner, will be there as part of his eponymous team in what will be his final home road race ahead of his planned retirement in November. He is one of eight Rio medallists scheduled to take part in the event that meanders via Carlisle, Wales, Bath and Devon before concluding in London next Sunday, with Doull lining up alongside him in his final road race before joining Team Sky.

Mark Cavendish will be back in Team Dimension Data colours after taking silver in the men's omnium on the track in Brazil while the man who beat him to gold, Italian Elia Viviani, will race for Sky. Holland's Olympic time trial silver medallist Tom Dumoulin will race for Giant-Alpecin while three members of Australia's silver-winning team pursuit squad - Jack Bobridge (Trek-Segafredo), Alex Edmondon and Michael Hepburn (both Orica-BikeExchange) - will also ride.

The world's top sprinters, preparing for October's pan-flat world championships in Qatar, have favoured this race over the mountainous Vuelta a Espana. Lotto-Soudal's German Andre Greipel and Orica-BikeExchange's Caleb Ewan will challenge Cavendish and Viviani, while Stewart’s team-mates include national champion Adam Blythe and Dan McLay after the latter's strong showing in the Tour de France.

The short time trial on stage seven in Bristol should also be hard-fought as Dumoulin will be challenged by three-time world champion Tony Martin of Etixx-QuickStep and Britain's Alex Dowsett of Movistar. The star names do not stop there. Team Sky's squad features Ben Swift, Ian Stannard and Nicolas Roche, while Wout Poels - a key man in helping Chris Froome to Tour glory in July - will also be on the start line.

In such illustrious company Stewart is reluctant to make too many bold claims about the British team’s chances but is looking forward to the experience. “It will be the biggest road race I’ve ever done and we’ve got a good few riders in the team so I’m looking forward to going and hopefully helping out. I’ve looked at the schedule and there doesn’t seem to be any easy days. The hills in Britain don’t just go up for 10km and then you descend – they never seem to stop. So it will be a hard eight days. If I can just be competitive in this field I’d be really happy with myself.”