Chris Hoy has promised to be as close to his Olympic best as possible when he sets off in pursuit of three gold medals at the World Championships, which start in Manchester on Wednesday.

While the Scot is keen to stress Beijing is his only goal this year, he is delighted with his current form as he prepares to race in front of his home supporters at the National Velodrome.

"I'm going as well as I can - a very, very small amount off where I'll be at the Olympics,'' said Hoy.

The 32-year-old faces a testing five days as he contests individual and team sprints as well as his new best event, the Keirin.

But he says: "I'm confident I can deal with that workload.''

The confidence comes from establishing himself as the world's best Keirin rider, after just two years of making the event the focus of his efforts.

After the kilometre time-trial - which brought him his gold medal at the Athens Games - was removed from the Olympic programme, Hoy had to reinvent himself for the event in which riders are paced behind a motorbike before battling for the line.

Losing the kilo, previously one of track cycling's signature events but a casualty of a political game between the International Olympic Committee and the International Cycling Union, still rankles with Hoy.

But Hoy thrives on a challenge - note his attempt on the world kilo record which necessitated a trip to a high-altitude velodrome in Bolivia last year.

"Time's passed very quickly since Athens,'' said Hoy.

"But then when you look at what's happened in the past four years there's been a hell of a lot going on - obviously, the most important thing was dropping the kilo.

"When you get into your early 30s and start something new, it's quite nice to start from scratch in something you've not really got any history in.''

Temperamentally, Hoy was perfectly suited to the kilo - a contest in the clock which requires sub-zero sang froid and a scientific application of muscle.

He explained: "The main difference is that the kilo is just one effort of about a minute every four years, and that put so much pressure on you.

"Often people would crack under that pressure, but I quite liked that.''

The pressure was never higher than in Athens when, last out as world champion, he saw his three biggest rivals beat the Olympic record in consecutive races before his gold medal-winning ride.

The Keirin is a much more unpredictable event.

Hoy's Great Britain team-mate Jamie Staff was world champion and a good bet to win the Olympic title four years ago when he was disqualified in the semi-finals for a technical infringement.

But Hoy is learning to love the uncertainty. When he started he was guilty of a tactical gaucheness which he has overcome by playing to his strengths - the consistent production of power typical of kilo riders.

Consequently, he was able to establish a sequence of 22 races unbeaten until the World Cup in Copenhagen earlier this year.

"I feel as if it's not alien to me any more,'' said Hoy.

"It's about getting into the right frame of mind - it's 'mano a mano' rather than against the clock.''

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