Four cyclists from Sri Lanka who are in Scotland to compete in the Commonwealth Games, which have their opening ceremony tonight at Glasgow’s Celtic Park, were this morning stopped by police – after taking to the M74 motorway for a training ride.

The quartet were spotted close to the exit for Motherwell and Hamilton, with a Police Scotland spokesperson saying, "Police attended the scene and advice and assistance was given."

Among those who spotted the riders was Olympic triathlon bronze medallist Jonathan Brownlee, who is competing in Glasgow and tweeted a picture of the riders.

 

 

The episode is reminiscent of one that happened 12 years ago when the Commonwealth Games took place in Manchester and a pair of cyclists from Kenya decided to go for a training ride on the M61, covering 17 miles before police pulled them over.