Cycling: Hoy’s chance to make amends

SIR Chris Hoy will attempt to make amends for one of his most humiliating defeats after being selected in the Great Britain squad for this weekend’s European Track Cycling Championships.

The four-time Olympic gold medallist suffered a first-round defeat to Irish amateur Felix English in the sprint last November, when the championships were staged in Poland.

At the time Hoy described the setback as “something stupid that I hope never happens again”, and he will have the opportunity in Apeldoorn, the Netherlands, to show where his form is at nine months out from the start of the London 2012 Games. He takes his place in a team of 15 riders and will look to build of his hat-trick of gold medals from the recent national championships. The event runs from Friday to Sunday.

Also selected for the men’s sprint is Jason Queally, who won gold in the one-kilometre time trial in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and, at the age of 41, is bidding for a place in the British team next summer.

Like Hoy, Queally will race in the sprint. He was a European gold medallist as part of Britain’s team pursuit team last year but has revised his target event for Olympic selection.

Olympic qualifying points are an incentive for those competing in Apeldoorn and reigning European champions Jason Kenny, Laura Trott, Steven Burke, Ed Clancy and Andy Tennant will attempt to defend their titles.

British Cycling performance manager Shane Sutton said: “We’re sending a strong team to the Euros and our aim remains to score Olympic qualification points early. We are on target to achieve this as the whole team is looking strong and healthy as we enter the final preparation stages for London 2012.”