Hoy targets World Cup as flu bug stops him racing

Capital cycling star Sir Chris Hoy will target next month’s opening round of the UCI World Cup in Kazakhstan for a return to racing after illness forced his withdrawal from the European Championships in Holland.

The 35-year-old Olympic legend had been aiming for a title treble in Apeldoorn after apparently shrugging off the effects of flu. That plan came to grief in Friday’s team sprint when Hoy, Jason Kenny and Matt Crampton could only finish fifth. However, Hoy was back in the saddle the following day for the qualifying session in the individual sprint, where he was fourth quickest.

But, after his ride, he felt under the weather and consulted the Great Britain team doctor who advised him to pull out of the knockout stages and yesterday’s Keirin.

“I wasn’t feeling great coming into these championships, I had some sort of flu bug which I thought I would shake in time for racing,” Hoy explained. “But after the team sprint I felt awful and woke feeling even worse.”

Hoy’s racing schedule features only three major competitions before next year’s Olympics in London, the first of those being the competition in Kazakhstan, starting on November 4.