With Olympics in his sights, Hoy takes setback in his stride

Hoy was forced to pull out on Saturday, after placing fourth in sprint qualifying, when he succumbed to a chest infection he’d been fighting for ten days.

Though the Olympics are nine months away, for Hoy they might seem even closer, given that the European championship was one of only four races – or “stepping stones,” as he called them – between now and London. After travelling home to Manchester yesterday he insisted, however, that this setback represents a minor blip rather than a serious wobble.

“It doesn’t affect anything with regard to the Olympics,” Hoy said. “We’re comfortable that we could not race again between now and the Olympics and be okay. In terms of Olympic qualifying points for the team sprint, we’re fine. From a personal point of view, all of my races are stepping stones, and part of my programme, so it’s frustrating. But it isn’t a serious setback.

“I woke up today [Sunday] feeling even worse, which reassured me that it was the right decision to pull out. I started to feel a sore throat on 11 October – that’s when I wrote in my diary that I wasn’t feeling right. It was the kind of thing that might not have come to anything, but I felt awful towards the end of that week, and then worse when we travelled to Apeldoorn last Saturday. Then I felt better throughout the week, but the team sprint on Friday set me back and I was up coughing most of Friday night.”

Hoy nevertheless elected to ride the 200 metres qualifying time trial for the sprint on Saturday morning, finishing fourth. “I was actually quite pleased with that,” he said. But it was clear afterwards that he was unwell and he retired after consulting with his coaches and the British team doctor.

The European championships have not proved a happy hunting ground for the quadruple Olympic gold medallist. The championships were restored to the calendar last year, when they clashed with the Commonwealth Games in Dehli, and Hoy, along with most of the leading British riders, opted instead for the Europeans, which carry Olympic qualifying points.

However, he returned from Poland with only a bronze medal in the team sprint after defeat in an early round of the sprint competition to the unheralded Irishman, Felix English, when Hoy, with a huge lead, sat up early, only to watch English pass him on the line.

Now Hoy says his priority is to regain his health this week before travelling to Kazakhstan on Saturday for the world cup on 4-6 November.

“If I can get my health back in the next few days then get a couple of decent sessions this week and be 100 per cent healthy. I’ll travel to Kazakhstan because the world cup is more important than the Europeans,” said Hoy.

“I’m not overly worried, because I know from training and from the national championships that the condition is there. Better to suffer something like this now than at the world championships, or the Olympics.”