Hoy won keirin gold at this year's World Championships

Sir Chris Hoy is saddened by the decision to restrict nations to one rider per sprint event at London 2012.

"Personally, I think it's a shame because it detracts from the overall quality of the field," said Hoy, who won three golds at the 2008 Olympics.

"You could find a situation where it's maybe easier to win a bronze medal or make a top-five finish than it would be at the World Championships.

"It's a shame and it's another change the cyclists have had no say in."

Team GB won seven out of 10 events at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, with four additional medals coming in the same events.

Britain secured gold and silver medals in the men's sprint and men's keirin, with Hoy finishing ahead of Jason Kenny and Ross Edgar, respectively, while the Scot's third success came in the team sprint.

"It wouldn't affect me directly," Hoy told BBC Scotland.

We have the Commonwealth Games coming up in October and that's obviously a big target Chris Hoy

"In Beijing, we had Ross Edgar with silver in the keirin that I won, then we had Jason Kenny winning silver in the sprint event I won gold in.

"So, if those regulations had been in place two years ago, we would only have had two golds in each event, rather than a gold and a silver."

British Cycling expected the change to come and is considering asking athletes to focus their efforts on single events, freeing up space for other members of the squad to go for gold.

However, Hoy, who won keirin gold at this year's World Championships but failed to medal in the sprint, did not indicate that he was considering scaling down his ambition.

"You just have to get on with the training for your competition and deal with the situation that's presented," he added.

"We have the Commonwealth Games coming up in October and that's obviously a big target and this season marks the start of the qualification process for London.

"It's really a two-year plan up to London.

"I had a break after the World Championships and now it's back to training and getting the hard yards in."

Hoy claimed victory in the men's keirin at the World Championships in Denmark in March

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