Redgrave hails Hoy achievements

The newly-retired Sir Chris Hoy deserves to be ranked as one of Great Britain's greatest-ever sportsmen according to the man he replaced as the nation's most successful Olympian.

Sir Steve Redgrave's haul of five rowing gold medals and one bronze placed him top of the pile until London 2012, when Hoy's velodrome victories in the team sprint and keirin took his personal tally to six golds and a silver. Redgrave was there when Hoy won what ended up being his final Olympic medal and embraced the Scot immediately after his keirin success.

"Sir Chris Hoy should be rated right at the top of Britain's sporting pantheon," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"He is not just a big name in Britain but a major sportsman in global terms.

"To be winning medals and competing at the highest level for 13 years is a phenomenal achievement.

"The success of British cycling, and especially of Chris and Bradley Wiggins, is reflected in the way the roads are so full of Lycra-clad cyclists these days."

Redgrave carried on competing successfully long after first floating the idea of retirement, but he feels Hoy picked the perfect time to bow out.

"I know Chris spent a long time mulling over the idea of competing on his own track in Glasgow, a track named after him (at the 2014 Commonwealth Games). That must have been a very big draw," he added.

"But instead he has decided to draw a line under a great career.

"I guess the London Games would have been tough to follow."