Sir Chris Hoy admitted he was ‘delighted' with his hat-trick of titles at the British Cycling 2011 National Track Championships but is already targeting further improvements for the upcoming European Championships and World Cup.
Hoy picked up three titles during the championships
In the first step towards next year's Olympics, Hoy began the championships by picking up the keirin title with a superb late charge before winning the men's sprint by overcoming an ever-improving David Daniell. The Scotsman added the team sprint on the final day at the Manchester Velodrome with Jason Queally and Jason Kenny.
"I'm delighted. I think it's at the top end of my expectations," Hoy said after the final day's action. "It's not a huge surprise because training performances give you an idea of where you are going to be but I think in terms of the overall plan this is right up there, as good as I could of expected."
Hoy's next focus will be the European Track Championships at the Omnisport in Apeldoorn, Holland from 21-23 October 2011 before embarking on the World Cup in Astana, Kazakstan from 4-6 November. Hoy is hoping to build on his efforts at each championship in what he described as the ‘first peak' of the track season.
"Data so far in terms of time performances has been better than I would have expected really bearing in mind that none of us our fresh for competition," Hoy commented.
He continued: "We've got a couple of weeks until the Europeans so we'll be looking to progress at these championships and then we have another couple of weeks until the World Cup in Kazakhstan and you expect to see the performances improve again.
"It's a really good starting point. We're freshening up all the time and the fact you're aiming for a race in five or six weeks time means there is no way I could backed off for the Nationals because you would have started to plateau by the time the World Cup comes around so essentially there's these three races - the Nationals, the Euros and the World Cup - that comprise the first peak of the season. The second peak will be the World Championships in April and the third will be the Olympic Games in August."
