Hoy back in winning form on race return

Four times Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy made an impressive comeback to racing on Sunday with victory in the keirin in the final round of the Trophée Fenioux in France.

The French event was Hoy's first since his crash in the Copenhagen World Cup in February when he injured his hip.

Six months on, and Sir Chris showed he is back in business in Hyeres, France by clocking the best time in the 200 metre time trial ahead of Great Britain’s Jason Kenny and Frenchman Kevin Sireau.

“It was an amazing performance,” Kenny told Cycling Weekly. “And being the fastest in the 200 metre time trial was the most impressive of all. It shows he’s still got the strength and speed that he always had and that the injury really hasn’t affected him.”

Sireau was able to beat Hoy in the sprint final, where David Daniell took third and Kenny fourth, but the Scot turned in a strong performance to win the keirin, the event he dominated in the years building up to the Beijing Olympics.

“Chris has had a fairly broken-up summer training-wise what with the injury and lots of different commitments - I don’t know how he manages to deal with it all, I know I couldn’t," Kenny said. “So it was great to see him coming through so well in France.”

Hoy missed this year's world championships in Poland because of the injuries he sustained in Copenhagen. Sireau was largely to blame for the crash, although Hoy would never apportion blame.

Sir Chris Hoy is expected to compete in the first round of the world cup series in Manchester from October 30th to November first.