NEWPORT cyclist Jon Mould will use his Commonwealth Games heartache as motivation as he aims to cause an upset in his home stage of the Tour of Britain next month.

The 23-year-old, who has previously won British titles on the track and the Welsh National Road Race, has had a good 2014 on the road.

Mould won three rounds of the Pearl Izumi Tour Series and was first in the overall sprint standings as well as winning the Castle Combe Easter Classic and the Leicester Castle Classic.

But a bout of flu before Glasgow 2014 cost him dearly. On the track he failed to finish in the 40km points race final and the 20km scratch race final.

And in the road race he could only watch in the dry as teammate Geraint Thomas won gold in the rain and fellow Welsh stars Luke Rowe and Scott Davies came home in sixth and tenth respectively.

Mould suffered a mechanical problem within the opening 15 seconds of the race and couldn’t catch the leaders before retiring.

“I was bitterly disappointed with the Commonwealth Games,” said Mould.

“My whole season was wrapped up around it and I got ill about a week and a half before the track events started and it knocked the power out of my legs.

“The road race didn’t go too well either with me having to stop after 25 metres! It was shocking.

“Pretty much as soon as I started I knew there was a problem and the race was so full on that I was fighting a losing battle to get back up with the leaders.”

Now Mould is gearing up for the Tour of Britain with this NFTO Racing team and ready to take on the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and Mark Cavendish in stage three, which finishes at the top of Tumble Mountain near Abergavenny on September 9.

“I’m feeling good now and the Games, even though I got ill, have set me up pretty well for this so I’m looking forward to it,” he said.

“What happened in Glasgow does hurt and it will spur me on.

“I would have swapped all my race wins this year for a Commonwealth medal but winning a stage at the Tour of Britain would make up for a it a bit.

“I’ll do my best to cause a surprise. I’ll have a lot of home support on the climb so I’ll probably have to try something!”