Chris Hoy: London 2012 Games stopped me quitting

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Hoy admitted for the first time he considered retiring after his stellar career peaked with three victories at the Laoshan Velodrome in Beijing.

But the lure of riding before his home crowd has kept the 32-year-old flying Scot firmly in the saddle. He said: "If the next Games had been somewhere else, maybe it would have been a tougher choice to make. But with them being in London there was no question about it.

"To have the British crowd there supporting you, to have the potential to maybe win another gold medal or two or three in the UK — you don't get bigger motivation than that."

The first Briton to claim three golds at a single Games since swimmer Henry Taylor 100 years ago told how a visit to last month's World Cup meeting in Manchester influenced his decision.

"I went to watch and do some commentary," said Hoy. "But I felt edgy not being part of the team, not being in the infield and not racing, I really missed it and I wanted to be down there.

"To me that was a good sign that I wasn't ready to retire, I wasn't ready to hang up my wheels yet. I've got more ambition and more drive. I'm still motivated."

Hoy believes British cycling is on a roll, and wants to be a part of any future success. He said: "We have the funding, the support staff and support network, and most importantly we've got a huge crop of young, talented riders."