Cycling: Hoy hails Olympic revamp

SIR CHRIS HOY is delighted that Victoria Pendleton now has the chance to match his gold medal hat-trick but believes changes to the Olympic cycling programme have denied the British public a classic contest in 2012.

In Beijing, while Hoy had three events in which to compete, Pendleton only had one – the sprint – and she won that.

But, following moves to equally split the ten track cycling events between men and women, she will be a contender in two more, the team sprint and the keirin.

Speaking at a launch of his sponsorship deal with the sports nutrition company Science in Sport, Hoy said: "It's great news for Vicky. It's something she's been outspoken about and quite rightly so, to try to get the parity between men and women."

The downside is the elimination of several events, notably the individual pursuits which generated four medals for British riders – Rebecca Romero and Wendy Houvenaghel taking a one-two in the women's and Bradley Wiggins and Steven Burke earning gold and bronze in the men's.