MARK Stewart stands poised at an enviable juncture of his sporting career:

he has the world at his feet, but without the weight of expectation yet stacked too heavily on his shoulders.

The 19-year-old from Dundee is one of Scotland's most promising cycling talents, his star firmly in the ascendant. Stewart made his Commonwealth Games debut in Glasgow and has shown his pedigree this year against some of the world's biggest track-cycling names when he claimed three second-place finishes at the Revolution Series in Manchester and London.

Having recently made the step up to senior level, Stewart will be in action in the men's individual pursuit, points race and scratch race when the 2014 British National Track Championships get under way in Manchester on Wednesday.

Stewart has gleaned valuable experience competing at Glasgow 2014 where he was the highest-placed Scot in the men's scratch race, finishing sixth. "It's given me a bit of confidence that not only can I ride at that level, but ride at the front and keep up," he says. "I went to the British Championships last year simply hoping to finish. This year I will be looking to get a medal."

Adding to his growing palmares, Stewart won the 2014 Scottish National Scratch Championships in Dundee a fortnight ago, seeing off the challenge of defending champion Martin Lonie. After Manchester, Stewart will be targeting a clutch of medals at next month's 2014 Scottish National Track Cycling Championships in Glasgow.

After an impressive haul of Scottish junior men's titles last year with gold in the points race, sprint, keirin and madison, Stewart spent almost as much time atop the podium as out on the boards. "I'm going with the aim to win everything again - that's the goal," he says. "I won the scratch race a couple of weeks ago. I will be hoping to win the [senior men's] individual pursuit and points race. The pursuit will be tough, though, because you have people like Silas Goldsworthy and Ben Peacock who are riding strongly."

Stewart splits his time between Abertay University, Dundee, where he is studying sports psychology, and his training base at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome in Glasgow. He comes from a sporty family with his father, Stan, having represented Scotland in iron-man events and his mother, Caroline, a keen hill runner. Stewart started swimming at the age of five, later dabbling in triathlon and running before plumping for cycling. "When I was growing up the two staples were going to church and attending sporting events as a family," he says.

His Christian faith remains important, with Stewart crediting it as the key anchor in his life and one which has given him vital perspective on his sporting career. "A lot of people ride a bike and see themselves as superstars," he says. "In the grand scheme of things I've got quite an easy life with not a lot to complain about. It gives me motivation to never miss a training session and give it everything I can."

While Stewart has been flying largely under the radar, that status is unlikely to last too much longer. Fellow Scot Katie Archibald, the world and European team pursuit champion, has said he is a special name to follow. "Give it a couple of years and I think we'll be hearing a lot more about Mark Stewart," she added. Brian Smith, the co-founder of the Braveheart Cycling Fund and himself a former professional rider, agrees the teenager has "definitely got it" and is going to be a star.

Stewart, who is on Scottish Cycling's development programme and rides for Spokes Racing Team, possesses an unfaltering, quiet confid- ence. He is realistic in his long-term ambitions, conscious that the Olympic Games in 2016 may come too soon for him. "It would be nice, but I'm not part of the British Cycling programme at the moment and you need to be in the system to get to Rio," he says. "I think 2020 in Tokyo would probably be a more realistic goal at this stage."

His reluctance to not get too far ahead of himself is understandable. Stewart's older brother Kevin, a talented track sprinter, adorned Bank of Scotland ticketing advertise- ments for London 2012, but missed out on a Team GB place to the eventual gold medal winning trio of Sir Chris Hoy, Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny.

Kevin, now 23, has since gone on to carve out a successful career as head sprint coach for Scottish Cycling, but his younger brother is under no illusions about the hard path that lies ahead.

There is no doubting, however, Stewart's focus. Nor do his aspirations end on the velodrome track. "I'm hoping to get stronger on the road and put in some good performances next year," he says. "I did OK as a junior, but I've had my butt kicked a lot this year and have almost developed an obsession with doing well on the road. I can't give up now."