LONDON - As deafening roars fill the Olympic velodrome on a dreary February day, Chris Hoy politely asks a huddle of reporters gathered around him to speak up a little bit.

The clamour only increases when fellow Briton Victoria Pendleton whizzes around the wooden oval and Hoy, perched on a warm-down bike to avoid getting cramp, apologetically excuses himself of his media duties for a moment.

"Come on Vicky," the four-times Olympic gold medallist screams with all his might at the 2012 London Games test event and World Cup series.

Hoy was in outstanding form himself, not only on the track with two golds including a lung-bursting keirin victory in which he recorded his fastest ever speed of 78.1 kilometres per hour, but also off it.

"The answers are yes. No. No. Yes. And it was great," the Scot, pretending to be disinterested, joked to reporters after claiming bronze in the team sprint.

If Hoy was disappointed at that result he did not show it, affording generous amounts of his time to talk through the race.

Britain's Hoy, left, reacts after winning gold over Germany's Levy in the men's Keirin at the 2012 UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, April 8, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

No wonder Hong Kong youngster Wai Sze Lee, who claimed a silver and a bronze at the same meeting, described her hero as "very gentleman" in halting English.

"I love Chris Hoy very much. No matter how far behind he gets he always catches the riders," said Lee, whose detached demeanour changed suddenly when Hoy's name was mentioned.

Lee could not be more accurate in her assessment.

The barrel-chested 36-year-old took his London form, which he labelled his "best since Beijing", to the world championships in Melbourne in April where he won an 11th world title with a "last-chance saloon" keirin burst.

Hoy went up the inside for the first time in his life to leave spectators and his coaches open-mouthed in amazement.

"100 meters out he was gone. But he was still standing and he took his chance," head coach Shane Sutton told Reuters after Hoy's audacious move.

Hoy is one of the most modest top athletes in world sport and would prefer not to be addressed as "Sir" as he is entitled to be after being knighted in 2009 for becoming the first Briton in 100 years to win three golds at a single Olympics the previous year.

A gentleman off the track, there are few more fierce competitors on it.