Monday 20th February 2012
Chris Hoy reigns supreme as GB cyclists excel at Track World Cup
The Scotsman
Scots cyclist, Sir Chris Hoy believes he is in his best form since his Beijing bounty of gold after a supreme showing at the Track World Cup at London’s Olympic Velodrome.
Hoy, who won three gold medals in the 2008 Games, completed a stunning performance by Great Britain in the Olympic test event with victory in the sprint to follow up his keirin triumph on day three and third place in the team sprint on Friday’s second day.
In all, Britain won eight medals from 10 Olympic events – four gold, one silver and two bronze – plus Joanna Rowsell’s gold in the non-Olympic individual pursuit.
On the final day yesterday, Hoy led the charge as the men’s team pursuit squad finished runners-up to arch-rivals Australia – who clocked the third fastest time in history – and Laura Trott claimed bronze in the multi-discipline omnium, but Victoria Pendleton had to settle for fifth in the keirin.
Once again, Hoy was the talisman, leaving no doubt that – although he is 36 on 23 March – he remains in peak condition. It was an ominous warning to his rivals ahead of August’s Olympic track competition.
The Scot said: “I was expecting some good performances, but this is the best I’ve been since Beijing. No question. I did my best performance in the team sprint last lap since Beijing. I did a 9.93 (seconds, in sprint qualifying) today and in the keirin last night I hit my fastest ever speed in that race (78.4kph).