Saturday 27 June 2015 17:02, UK
Britain’s most successful Olympian Sir Chris Hoy is adamant he made the right decision to retire from professional cycling in 2013.
The 39-year-old Scot has swapped four wheels for two and is currently racing sports cars in the European Le Mans Series but still admits to pangs of nostalgia when he watches the sport he once dominated.
Hoy told Sky Sports News HQ: “Every time I watch the team racing at championship level; the Commonwealth Games, and I’m sure it will be the same in Rio, there’s a part of me… because it’s been your life for so many years; you don’t just flick a switch and stop inside.
“Obviously you reach a point where you think, well I either continue at the same level or I stop and I think the numbers were there to show I wasn’t recovering as well, I wasn’t able to maintain power output, speed as I was back in 2012 and before that.
“So I made the call to say I’d rather be there to support the team, to watch the racing than to make up the numbers.”
On Monday Team Sky will announce their line-up for the Tour de France and Hoy is backing team leader Chris Froome to win the race for a second time.
Froome finished second to British team-mate Bradley Wiggins in 2012 and followed up with victory 12 months later but last year he was forced to quit the race after crashing twice on stage five.
“He’s got a very good chance,” added Hoy. ”You can never call it at this stage and so much of it is about staying out of trouble in the first week. The classic thing is you can’t win the Tour in the first week, but you can lose it.
“If he can get through uninjured in one piece, having not lost any time with any splits in the peleton in the first few days, keep his nose clean and stay out of trouble then he’s definitely got a chance but it’s a three week tour any number of things can go right or wrong.
“Certainly you would expect him to be right up there and I will be cheering him on.”
Looking ahead to next year’s Olympics, Hoy is tipping his former team-mates to continue their rich vein of form but admits previous success can also be a burden.
“It’s tough for the team because every time they get on the track there is expectation from the media, the public because of the success in the past.
“I think realistically we’ve got a chance of winning medals in about 50% of the events, which is amazing when you think about it. In a lot of sports we would be delighted with that potential but in cycling we’ve got such a high standard in the past that it’s almost that we’ve built a rod for our backs.
“But I think they will do well, I think there is probably about four or five medal chances, realistic medal chances and If you’re in with a shout for a medal, you’re in with a shout for a gold medal."
