Hoy steps aside and leaves the stage clear for Clancy

Yorkshireman Ed Clancy has two Olympic gold medals to his name, a host of major titles and another two cycles at the top of his sport to overhaul the record tally amassed by Sir Chris Hoy, who called time on his career yesterday.

Hoy’s retirement at the age of 37 was expected, with the Scot taking himself out of the running to lead the home nation’s charge at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year.

Hoy said that he put so much in to winning two gold medals in London last summer, which took his tally to six golds and a silver from four Olympics, that he would not be able to put himself through it all again.

Clancy, 28, will be in action for England in Glasgow next summer as he attempts to win the only international title still to elude him.

He has Olympic golds in the team pursuit from the last two Games, and a bronze in the omnium, and has already begun testing himself at the team sprint discipline in which Hoy made his name.

Clancy – who was born in Barnsley and raised in Huddersfield – would be a reluctant hero, just as is Hoy, but has said in the past that he has two more Olympic Games in him, which at the rate he is winning medals could see him match or exceed the number of times Hoy climbed onto the podium.

The plaudits for a remarkable stint on the boards poured in last night for Hoy.

Lizzie Armitstead, Otley’s Olympic silver medallist in the women’s road race in London, said: “Chris Hoy, to me, is as much an inspirational figure off the bike as he is on the bike.

“He’s an idol for kids growing up in cycling and it is definitely something he will be remembered for.”

For Dave Brailsford, the British cycling guru who played an 
integral part in Hoy’s career, it is the Scot’s personality that has set him apart.

“The very fact you can’t think of any negatives about the guy – either on the bike or off the bike – it’s probably the biggest accolade you can give anybody,” said Brailsford.

“That’s a genuine thing. I don’t think you could find anybody who would say anything negative about him.

“And that is incredibly rare when you think your whole career has been in and around competition.

“His desire to win, his hunger and killer instinct was absolutely second to none. But he did it with such dignity and fair play that, whilst everyone was disappointed about being beaten by him, nobody held it against him. Nobody had a bad word to say about him, which is remarkable.”

Hoy won his first Olympic medal in Sydney, a silver in the team sprint. His first gold came in the kilometre time trial – an event in which Clancy also excels – four years later in Athens.

The removal of the one-kilometre time-trial from the Olympics meant Hoy had to reinvent himself prior to the Beijing Games, moving from timed events to shoulder-to-shoulder combat.

Hoy went on to win three Olympic titles in Beijing and two more in London, but his legacy will live on in the riders he trained with – and set an example for – on a daily basis as Britain continue to produce talented cyclists.

“This sport is all about hard work,” said Brailsford.

“Chris had fantastic talent, but he wasn’t the most naturally gifted. Boy, did he work hard.

“Everybody saw his application and how hard he trained. How diligent he was. His frame of reference was always himself. I think that set him apart and that’s the sign of a true champion.”

Of his decision, Hoy said: “It is one moment at the end of your career when you say ‘enough is enough’. It’s a decision that I didn’t take lightly and I thought about it very hard.

“In sport at the highest level you are dealing in the smallest margins and you can tell when you are good but not good enough.

“Now it’s time for younger riders to experience what it is like to compete in front of a home crowd.”

Asked if he was the greatest British Olympian, Hoy said: “To describe the greatest is subjective. To me, in my subjective opinion, Sir Steve Redgrave is the greatest in British history.”