SIR Chris Hoy could miss out on the chance defend all three of his Olympic titles, British Cycling head coach Shane Sutton has revealed.

Hoy wants to replicate his historic hat-trick, achieved in Beijing four years ago, when he won gold in the sprint, team sprint and keirin in Beijing.

However, a change of regulations means countries are now only able to enter one rider into individual events and Hoy will not be selected for sentimental reasons.

The 35-year-old will have to battle for his place, especially in the sprint, and faces a tough challenge with Beijing silver medalist, Jason Kenny, on his tail.

Kenny was crowned world champion following Gregory Bauge’s ban and could go head to head with Hoy at the London World Cup, at the Olympic Velodrome, this weekend.

“You’ve got a very speedy, young athlete, super-fast athlete, current world champion,” said Sutton.

“Then you’ve got the great Sir Chris Hoy, triple-Olympic champion, power to burn.

“You’ve got power versus speed, so how do you pick?

“We’ve not really sat down and thought exactly what would happen if they both made the final of the Worlds, they went one-all and someone just went to sleep in the last one - who would still be the best? You don’t know.

“But it’s a beautiful situation to be in.

“Given what I’ve seen from Sir Chris of late, he’s coming back to his best.

“Then again, Jason’s on fire, so it’s going to be a tough decision and there is no dead-set formula.

“There is a discretionary line in there as far as selection’s concerned.

“But there are certain parameters, and one of them would be who performs best in the Worlds has probably got the first foot in the door.”