EX-OLYMPIC skier Alain Baxter is to make his bike racing debut on the track at next month's Revolution meeting in Manchester.Baxter will be pitting himself against Jamie Staff, Craig Maclean and Ross Edgar in the 200metre time-trial at the event in the Velodrome.

EX-OLYMPIC skier Alain Baxter is to make his bike racing debut on the track at next month's Revolution meeting in Manchester.

Baxter will be pitting himself against Jamie Staff, Craig Maclean and Ross Edgar in the 200metre time-trial at the event in the Velodrome.

The Scot, who would have made his debut last month but for a bout of flu, has said he wants to ride for Scotland at next year's Commonwealth Games.

“Revolution will be my first competitive race, so it's a bit like entering the unknown,” Baxter said. “But I'm really excited about it. I've been training hard at the sprints and was really disappointed about having to pull out of the nationals.”

Baxter's coach Dave Clark has previously worked with Olympians Sir Chris Hoy and Maclean, who Baxter credits with getting him into bike racing.

“I've known Craig for quite a while. We grew up not far from each other in Scotland and our families know each other. When I decided to retire from skiing, Craig encouraged me to get involved with the athlete transfer programme at the Institute of Sport and, as I've always done a bit of cycling, it just went from there.”