Cycling: Chris Hoy tempers win with a warning

Sir CHRIS HOY stole a march on Jason Kenny, his rival for the Great Britain spot in the individual sprint at this summer’s Olympics, when he struck gold at the UCI World Cup in London yesterday.

Having won bronze in Friday’s team sprint, the Capital star, 35, offered the 6,000 capacity audience at the London Velodrome a glimpse of his power when he touched a speed of almost 49 miles per hour as he powered to victory in the Keirin on Saturday.

He again displayed his blistering pace when he was the only rider to dip below ten seconds in sprint qualifying yesterday. Hoy then eased past Japan’s Seiichiro Nakagawa in the first knock-out round before taking three rides to see off Frenchman Gregory Bauge.

However, he was peerless in seeing off Robert Forstemann 2-0 then produced an immaculate effort to beat another German, Max Levy, by a similar margin in the final.

Meanwhile, Kenny – the current world champion – was sixth fastest qualifier but bowed out against German Max Levy in the quarter-finals, handing Hoy the initiative in the race for selection.

Hoy was delighted with the form he showed over the three days of competition but although he is now ahead of Kenny in the pecking order, he insists that there is still work to do to cement his Olympic place, saying: “I haven’t done myself any harm by winning but it’s by no means certain who is going to ride. It’s going to be a big challenge at the World Championships in Melbourne.”