Hoy romps to second World Cup gold as Britain clinch sprint 1-2-3

By Steven Chicken, Sportsbeat, in Manchester

SIR Chris Hoy breezed his way to his second gold medal of the season-opening UCI World Cup as Great Britain claimed all three men's sprint medals in Manchester.

 GOLDEN HOY: Sir Chris Hoy romps to second gold of Manchester World Cup as Britain dominate the podium

Hoy, having taken the keirin title on Friday, was in a class of his own once more in the Manchester Velodrome and defeated compatriot Matthew Crampton in the final.

The flying Scot clocked 10.259 seconds in the second final, not quite as fast as the course record he set earlier in the day when he broke the ten-second barrier, but still enough to collect a 2-0 victory.

It's Hoy's first international competition since suffering a hip injury at the Copenhagen World Cup in February and while the four-time Olympic gold medallist has returned stronger than ever, Hoy admitted he did have doubts having spent so long out of the saddle.

"It means a lot to come back and win here," said Hoy. "I've been riding the World Cup series for years now but having been off the bike for so long you start to ask yourself if you're going to get back to the same level."

While Hoy and Crampton battled it out for silver and gold, Olympic silver medallist Jason Kenny overcame Australia's Shane Perkins to collect bronze and ensure an all-British podium.

In fact, it was the same three Brits, in the same order, as there was at the National Championships just one week ago, again at the Manchester Velodrome.

And Hoy believes he would not have made such an emphatic return to competition if it were not for the likes of Kenny and Crampton pushing him all the way.

"The strength in depth is fantastic and it really bodes well for the future," he added. "I genuinely don't believe I would be performing as well as I am without these guys around me."

And while Crampton, ten years Hoy's junior, was powerless to stop his rival from taking sprint gold, he admitted Hoy sets the example for all those to follow within the British camp.

"He's the man of the moment," added Crampton. "I've been watching him in training and that's the level we all aim for. I'm dead chuffed with my performance, but what can I say about Chris?"

Meanwhile, Lizzie  Armitstead made up for a disappointing tenth-place finish in the scratch by taking points race gold.

"I was disappointed after yesterday (finished 10th in scratch) , but I won the one that represents how strong you are. But it was absolutely solid, one of the hardest points races I've ever done," she said.

"They're hard enough when you've got good form, and when you're slightly off they're just painful from beginning to end.

"The gold medals for myself and for Wendy is a good sign for the team pursuit tomorrow."

But British team sprint duo Jess Varnish and Becky James just missed out on bronze, as they were edged out by Germany in the third-place race.

And reigning world champions Kaarle McCulloch and Anna Mears of Australia romped to gold in the final, ahead of the Netherlands, who had to settle for silver.