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Jamie Staff has backed Sir Chris Hoy to repeat his Beijing Olympic hat-trick on home soil after the flying Scot returned to form in sensational style at the National Cycling Championships.

Staff captured team sprint gold in Beijing with Hoy and Jason Kenny - with Hoy also adding the sprint and keirin titles to his Athens kilo triumph to become the first British Olympian in 100 years to claim three golds at one Games.

Hoy was brought crashing back down to Earth in March when a hip injury forced kept him out of the World Championships.

But the 33-year-old proved he was back on track by romping to sprint, team sprint - again with Staff and Kenny - and kierin gold at the Manchester Velodrome, where the season-opening World Cup will take place this weekend.

And while Staff admits he was initially concerned about Hoy's new-found celebrity status, the 36-year-old insists the 'Hoy Wonder' is better than ever and can surpass Sir Steve Redgrave as Great Britain's most decorated Olympian.

"Someone like Chris Hoy is just pulled everywhere but he's incredibly focussed and he's at every training session," said Staff.

"He's not like some sports people in the past who have been so successful but have got carried away by doing other things.

"He obviously wants to go for London so he knows what he has to do and has remained a dominant force in cycling.

"He's going even faster so that's pretty impressive. He had at least three months off the bike with the injury so fair play to him.

"I didn't know whether he'd go for all three again in London but there's no doubt in my mind now.

"He's come back like a man possessed and is absolutely flying. He knows there's pressure on him to perform but that's not a problem - he's focussed and knows what he has to do."

Staff began his career as a BMX rider, and was crowned world champion in 1996 before converting to the boards in 2002.

And Staff admits the strength of British cycling means he may have to bring the curtain down on his glittering career before 2012.

"I'm in the situation where I'm getting a little bit older and I need to look at the feasibility of me being in London," added Staff.

"I'll be 39 so it's not out of the question but it depends how much you want it.

"Two months ago I would have said I don't know if I'll make it but now I'm getting up to scratch again and I want to be there.

"The frustrating thing with age is you become much wiser and able to cope with everything but your body starts hurting a bit more.

"The youngsters are going to be quick but naïve, inexperienced and immature so sometimes it plays to my advantage.

"I'm just going to keep an eye on the youngsters and see how they develop over the next couple of years.

"When you get about 18 months from the Games then you can get a good idea whether you can make it or not.

"And if I've got a youngster who's giving me a hard time then the likelihood is that in 12 months time he'll probably surpass me.

"I'm realistic but I'm not worried about it and I'm just focussing on doing what I can this year with the World Cup only around the corner."

Eurosport