The island, lying in the Irish Sea between England and Ireland, is known for the world famous Isle of Man TT which sees motorcyclists zipping around public roads over the course of a frantic few days.

Away from motorbikes, the island also boasts a proud history on the humble pedal cycle.

Some of the world's best riders have been produced there, including Tour de France hero Mark Cavendish, one of the greatest road sprinters of all time, and Olympic gold medallist Peter Kennaugh.

This is a fine achievement for a place which is home to just 85,000 people.

"I think the island lends itself to cycling, it's undulating and quite tough out there," said Erica Bellhouse, the Isle of Man's Chef de Mission for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

"It produces quite tough riders.

"There's a really solid youth and junior system in place which is really good, and there's a definite element of the 'Cav factor'.

"He really broke through and did amazing things, and I think it's pulled a lot of people on. 

"They've seen him and think 'I used to ride with him on a Tuesday night at the NSC. We can all do this!' 

"That's been a big factor."

Cavendish has been named as part of the 32-strong squad which the British Crown Dependency will take to Birmingham 2022.

He is one of the Isle of Man's three Commonwealth Games champions, and the last to date, having won the scratch race title in the velodrome at Melbourne 2006.

At Rio 2016, Cavendish won an Olympic silver medal in the omnium, and he is a world champion on both road and track.

But it is his achievements at the Tour de France which have really stood him out from the crowd.

His 34 stage victories at cycling's most famous race is the joint all-time record alongside Eddy Merckx of Belgium, while he has won the green jersey for best sprinter twice, including last year.

He won the prestigious Champs-Élysées stage in Paris, the conclusion of the race, four times in a row from 2009.

"He's a hero on the Isle of Man, and rightly so," said Bellhouse, the secretary general of the island's Commonwealth Games Association.

"He was home at Easter and you get the 'rumbles' - 'I saw him out on the bike, he was here, he was there!'

"He's done amazing things and put the Isle of Man on the map."

Kennaugh, who won Olympic gold for Britain in the team pursuit at London 2012, attempted a memorable solo breakaway during the Glasgow 2014 road race before being reeled in.

In 2019 he announced an indefinite break from cycling, meaning he will not be in Birmingham, but this year's squad does include former world scratch champion Ben Swift.

Despite being born in England, Swift, the two-time and reigning British road race champion, has lived on the Isle of Man for more than 10 years.

Isle of Man will also compete in aquatics, athletics, badminton, boxing, gymnastics, Para-powerlifting and triathlon in Birmingham.

The only gymnast will be Tara Donnelly, the Isle of Man's sportswoman of the year.

The close proximity to the host city means there is the chance of plenty of travelling support in Manx colours.

"We're lucky that we had the likes of Mark Cavendish committed so early," said Bellhouse.  

"That will definitely attract attention. 

"As an almost 'home' Games it will attract a lot more people to perhaps pop over, there's the possibility of travelling to Birmingham. 

"For the road race, I expect a lot of Manx fans will travel over for that. 

"We've got a strong swimming contingent and I know there's a lot of them heading over to watch, athletics is the same. 

"It will capture the interest of the island." 

The Queen's Baton Relay will visit the Isle of Man in June, which will prove useful in building excitement as the Games are due to open shortly afterwards on July 28.

Alongside Cavendish, the other Commonwealth Games gold medallists from the Isle of Man are cyclist Peter Buckley, who won the road race in Kingston in 1966, and skeet shooter Nigel Kelly at Edinburgh 1986.

Shooting is another sport in which the island has been strong so, as with other teams, there was disappointment when it was omitted from the Birmingham 2022 programme.

"There's disappointed shooters," said Bellhouse. "We've got an established shooting structure in place. 

"But it's out of our hands, there's not a lot we can do about that." 

The coronavirus pandemic affected individual sports in the Isle of Man differently, Bellhouse said. Sports which will not be represented in Birmingham may have been able to send athletes under more normal circumstances.

"We had really tough border policies," Bellhouse said. 

"It meant we were a lot freer on the island, but it was a lot harder for people to leave. 

"We've seen a range of things that people did. 

"Some came home and knuckled down and just accepted it and trained on island, others, certainly some of the cyclists, pretty much spent a year in isolation for one reason or another. 

"They'd go away to race, come back and have to isolate. That must have been really tough. It's not been the easiest time for anybody." 

Away from the Commonwealth Games, the Isle of Man competes at the Island Games which provides a stepping stone through to the top level.

"Some sports use it very much as a development opportunity," said Bellhouse.

"Swimming, athletics and those type of sports will have used the Island Games to then hopefully go from there to the Commonwealth Games. 

"It's a fantastic opportunity for people to experience multi-sport Games. 

"It's every two years, so that brings with it more opportunities."

Bellhouse is serving as Chef de Mission for the first time and is happy to fulfil an athlete-centered role.

She was involved with the cycling competitions when the Isle of Man hosted the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2011, an event she said many people mentioned during the Birmingham 2022 site visits in March.

During that trip, Bellhouse was left impressed with preparations for the Games, where the Isle of Man team will be spread out across the three Athlete Villages.

"I've got a really good team around me," she said. "It will be a challenge but I'm looking forward to it.

"The theme of the Games is flexibility I think! 

"Everyone is going to have to be a bit more flexible than they expected, and the three Villages is going to bring challenges. 

"But given everything that's gone on, I think to have the Games, I think it's going to be fantastic. 

"The venues are all looking great. It looks all on track and the Organising Committee are doing an absolutely amazing job. 

"I do not relish their job as I'm sure they've had many, many challenges!"

Isle of Man came home from the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games with one silver medal, won by men's double trap shooter Tim Kneale.

They have won at least one medal at the Games since Manchester 2002, and will be hoping to keep that streak going in Birmingham.

"We should all be grateful that the Games are going to go ahead in July," said Bellhouse.

"It looks like, touch wood, there will be a fantastic Games. 

"That wasn't a given, even 12 months ago."